The Stroop Effect: Brain Potentials Localize the Source of Interference

Abstract

The P300 component of the event-related brain potential was used in conjunction with reaction time to identify the locus of interference on the Stroop color-word test. Whereas response time varied with the congruence between the stimulus word and the color in which it was printed, the duration of stimulus processing, as indexed by P300 latency, remained constant. The results indicate that response competition is the primary source of Stroop interference.