The SRTOOP effect

The famous Stroop effect was named after the J Ridley Stroop. This experiment consists in the ability to multitask and to do 2 tasks at the same time using the same sense. In this case the sense is sight. The job is to be able to say the word written. At first the color and the word represented the same. Then the colors were mixed up with any word and this caused conflict in your brain making the reaction time slower.

The words themselves have a strong influence over your ability to say the color. The interference between the different information (what the words say and the color of the words) your brain receives causes a problem. There are two theories that may explain the Stroop effect:

1. Speed of Processing Theory: the interference occurs because words are read faster than colors are named.
2. Selective Attention Theory: the interference occurs because naming colors requires more attention than reading words.

I think that this puzzle would be easier for a very young child than for older children or adults. Try this out on some small kids who know their colors, but cannot yet read! I would imagine that the children would not get confused by this puzzle because the words would not have any meaning to them.

This is how the Stroop effect experiment looks like

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/words.html