Developmental trends in everyday conditional reasoning: the retrieval and inhibition interplay

Two experiments examined developmental patterns in children’s conditional reasoning with everyday causal conditionals. In Experiment 1, a group of pre-, early, young, and late adolescents generated counterexamples for a set of conditionals to validate developmental claims about the counterexample retrieval capacity. In Experiment 2, participants in the same age range were presented with a conditional reasoning task with similar conditionals. Experiment 1 established that counterexample retrieval increased from preadolescence to late adolescence. Experiment 2 showed that acceptance rates of the invalid affirmation of the consequent inference gradually decreased in the same age range. Acceptance rates of the valid modus ponens inference showed a U-shaped pattern. After an initial drop from preadolescence to early adolescence, modus ponens acceptance ratings increased again after the onset of adolescence. Findings support the claim that the development of everyday conditional reasoning can be characterized as an interplay between the development of a counterexample retrieval and inhibition process.     

About the unidirectionality of interference: Insight from the musical Stroop effect

The asymmetry of interference in a Stroop task usually refers to the well-documented result that incongruent colour words slow colour naming (Stroop effect) but incongruent colours do not slow colour word reading (no reverse Stroop effect). A few other studies have suggested that, more generally, a reverse Stroop effect can be occasionally observed but at the expense of the Stroop effect itself, as if interference was inherently unidirectional, from the stronger to the weaker of the two competing processes. We describe here a situation conducive to a pervasive mutual interference effect. Musicians were exposed to congruent and incongruent note name/note position patterns, and they were asked either to read the word while ignoring the location of the note within the staff, or to name the note while ignoring the note name written inside the note picture. Most of the participants exhibited interference in the two tasks. Overall, this result pattern runs against the still prevalent model of the Stroop phenomenon [Cohen, J. D., Dunbar, K., & McClelland, J. L. (1990). On the control of automatic processes: A parallel distributed processing account of the Stroop effect. Psychological Review, 97(3), 332–361]. However, further analyses lend support to one of the key tenets of the model, namely that the pattern of interference depends on the relative strength of the two competing pathways. The reasons for the impressive differences between the results collected in the present study and in the standard colour–word (or picture–word) paradigms are also examined. We suggest that these differences reveal the importance of stimulus–response contingency in the formation of automatisms.     

Stroop interference and development: Influence of expectation on color-naming response times

Introduction/objective

In a sample of 171 participants aged 6 to 18, the present investigation assessed the changes in the size of the Stroop effect with age, and its relationship with the development of expectancies.

情绪Stroop效应与Stroop效应的关系

摘 要 本研究通过位置判断任务、图-词干扰任务和色-词干扰任务来测量Stroop效应;通过表情面孔性别判断任务、情绪词汇判定任务和情绪图片颜色命名任务来测量情绪Stroop效应;运用结构方程建模的方法对情绪Stroop效应与Stroop效应的关系进行了探讨。结果发现：（1）Stroop效应和情绪Stroop效应是显著的。（2）情绪Stroop效应与Stroop效应是两种相互独立的现象。     

Cognitive control and word recognition speed influence the Stroop effect in bilinguals

Bilinguals have been shown to be less susceptible to Stroop interference in their first language than monolinguals, though the cause is currently being debated. In two experiments, we explored how cognitive control and word recognition contribute to the Stroop effect by contrasting cognitive control (via a Simon arrow task), word recognition speed (via a Chinese/English word recognition task) and Stroop susceptibility (via a verbal Stroop task) between proficient and non‐proficient Chinese–English bilinguals. Compared to non‐proficient bilinguals, proficient bilinguals showed better cognitive control at inhibiting irrelevant information, and they were slower at recognising Chinese words but quicker at recognising English words. Critically, we also showed that proficient bilinguals showed a smaller Stroop effect than non‐proficient bilinguals in Chinese but a comparable Stroop effect as non‐proficient bilinguals in English. The results cannot be accounted for by cognitive control or word recognition speed alone; instead, they are best accommodated by assuming that cognitive control and word recognition speed jointly determine the Stroop effect. Thus, we conclude that enhanced cognitive control and delayed word recognition combine to reduce Stroop effect in bilinguals as compared to monolinguals.     

An emotional Stroop task with faces and words. A comparison of young and older adults

AntecedentsGiven the contradictions of previous studies on the changes in attentional responses produced in aging a Stroop emotional task was proposed to compare young and older adults to words or faces with an emotional valence.MethodThe words happy or sad were superimposed on faces that express the emotion of happiness or sadness. The emotion expressed by the word and the face could agree or not (cued and uncued trials, respectively). 85 young and 66 healthy older adults had to identify both faces and words separately, and the interference between the two types of stimuli was examined.ResultsAn interference effect was observed for both types of stimuli in both groups. There was more interference on positive faces and words than on negative stimuli.ConclusionsOlder adults had more difficulty than younger in focusing on positive uncued trials, whereas there was no difference across samples on negative uncued trials.     

A Sensory Origin for Color-Word Stroop Effects in Aging: Simulating Age-Related Changes in Color-vision Mimics Age-Related Changes in Stroop

ABSTRACT

An increase in Stroop effects with age can be interpreted as reflecting age-related reductions in selective attention, cognitive slowing, or color-vision. In the present study, 88 younger adults performed a Stroop test with two color-sets, saturated and desaturated, to simulate an age-related decrease in color perception. This color manipulation with younger adults was sufficient to lead to an increase in Stroop effects that mimics age-effects. We conclude that age-related changes in color perception can contribute to the differences in Stroop effects observed in aging. Finally, we suggest that the clinical applications of Stroop take this factor into account.     

高低创伤个体的Stroop干扰效应及性别差异研究

探讨高低创伤个体的认知干扰效应及性别差异。采用创伤事件终身经历问卷—学生版、PTSD检查表平时版来选取高低创伤被试,通过经典Stroop范式要求被试进行色—词辨别反应任务。结果显示：高低创伤被试间存在显著的差异,高创伤被试的反应时显著长于低创伤被试的反应时;高低创伤两组被试在任务类型上均存在显著差异,一致任务的反应时显著低于不一致任务的反应时;高创伤组被试在性别上存在显著差异,男性的反应时显著低于女性的反应时;创伤水平、性别与任务类型在Stroop效应干扰上存在交互作用。研究表明高创伤女性被试更容易受到认知干扰,Stroop任务的类型也对创伤被试产生一定作用。     

Measuring Preschoolers' Inhibitory Control Using the Black/White Stroop

The Day/Night Stroop is a widely used measure of inhibitory control with preschoolers that requires them to respond ‘day’ to a picture of a moon and ‘night’ to a picture of a sun (Gerstadt, Hong, & Diamond, 1994). However, we argue that the nature of the relation between the stimuli and required responses requires more than inhibitory control. In the present study we compared 51 three‐ to five‐year‐olds' performance on the Day/Night and the Black/White Stroop alongside other measures of Executive Function and language. As predicted, we found that children make inhibitory errors on the Black/White, while they make both inhibitory and memory errors on the Day/Night. As a result, the Day/Night Stroop underestimates the inhibitory control abilities of some children. Further, we also found that performance on the Black/White task was strongly related to performance on another inhibitory control task, while performance on the Day/Night was not. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The duality of virtue: Deconstructing the moral hypocrite

The present study examined the processes giving rise to moral hypocrisy, a phenomenon in which individuals judge their own transgressions to be less morally objectionable than the same transgressions enacted by others. Two alternative models of the source of hypocrisy were compared to determine whether hypocrisy results from automatic or volitional biases. Findings demonstrated not only that participants viewed their own transgressions as significantly more “fair” than the same transgressions enacted by others, but also that this bias was eliminated under conditions of cognitive constraint. These findings support the view that hypocrisy stems from volitionally-guided justifications, and thereby suggest that at a more basic level, humans possess a negative response to violations of fairness norms whether enacted by themselves or others.     

青少年Stroop效应和反转Stroop效应的脑事件相关电位研究

研究了初中生、高中生和大学生在完成Stroop任务时的脑事件相关电位特征。以中文Stroop色字为材料,对颜色和字义任务中一致刺激和不一致刺激的脑电叠加平均,并相减(不一致刺激减一致刺激)得到差异波,比较各组被试的波形。结果发现:在顶区,初中生的P3比高中生和大学生更为正走向;大学生、高中生和初中生的头皮分布呈现出不同的特征;Nd4与Stroop效应和反转的Stroop效应有关,可能反映了对无关信息的抑制,而Pd6则反映了对语义信息的再加工。     

Selective processing of food,weight, and body-shape words in nonpatient women with bulimia nervosa: Interference on the Stroop task

The study investigated whether the Stroop interference effect could be found in nonpatients with a self-report consistent with a diagnosis of bulimia nervosa. The nonpatient bulimic group showed significantly more interference to disorder-specific words (food, weight, and body shape) than to control words. The two nonpatient comparison groups, a depressed-nonbulimic group and a nonbulimic-nondepressed group, showed no interference. These results indicate that nonpatients with bulimia nervosa can be used to test various models of the cognitive and emotional processes involved in bulimia nervosa with the modified Stroop task. Methodological issues in the use of the computerized Stroop task with clinical populations are also noted.     

Stroop interference is a composite phenomenon: Evidence from distinct developmental trajectories of its components

Only one previous developmental study of Stroop task performance (Schiller, 1966) has controlled for differences in processing speed that exist both within and between age groups. Therefore, the question of whether the early developmental change in the magnitude of Stroop interference actually persists after controlling for processing speed needs further investigation; work that is further motivated by the possibility that any remaining differences would be caused by process(es) other than processing speed. Analysis of data from two experiments revealed that, even after controlling for processing speed using z‐transformed reaction times, early developmental change persists such that the magnitude of overall Stroop interference is larger in 3rd‐ and 5th graders as compared to 1st graders. This pattern indicates that the magnitude of overall Stroop interference peaks after 2 or 3 years of reading practice (Schadler & Thissen, 1981). Furthermore, this peak is shown to be due to distinct components of Stroop interference (resulting from specific conflicts) progressively falling into place. Experiment 2 revealed that the change in the magnitude of Stroop interference specifically results from joint contributions of task, semantic and response conflicts in 3rd‐ and 5th graders as compared to a sole contribution of task conflict in 1st graders. The specific developmental trajectories of different conflicts presented in the present work provide unique evidence for multiple loci of Stroop interference in the processing stream (respectively task, semantic and response conflict) as opposed to a single (i.e. response) locus predicted by historically – favored response competition accounts.     

Interference suppression vs. response inhibition: An explanation for the absence of a bilingual advantage in preschoolers’ Stroop task performance

The well-documented advantage that bilingual speakers demonstrate across the lifespan on measures of controlled attention is not observed in preschoolers’ performance on Stroop task variations. We examined the role of task demands in explaining this discrepancy. Whereas the Color/Word Stroop used with adult participants requires interference suppression, the Stroop task typically used with preschoolers requires only response inhibition. We developed an age-appropriate conflict task that measures interference suppression. Fifty-one preschool children (26 bilinguals) completed this new Bivalent Shape Task and the Day/Night task used in previous research. Bilingual in comparison to monolingual children performed better on incongruent trials of the Bivalent Shape Task, but did not differ on other measures. The results indicate that the discrepancy between preschoolers and older individuals in performance on Stroop task adaptations results from characteristics of the task rather than developmental differences. Further, the findings provide additional support for the importance of interference suppression as a mechanism underlying the bilingual advantage.     

汉字、拼音、英文Stroop干扰效应的比较研究

本研究通过比较汉字、拼音和英文的Stroop干扰效应,考察文字系统的差异能否影响Stroop干扰效应。结果表明汉字、拼音、英文在Stroop任务中的干扰效应依次降低。组块之间的比较表明随着刺激的重复呈现,汉字、拼音、英文的Stroop干扰效应都逐渐变小且趋于相同。对Stroop效应更加合理的理论解释是整合了文字加工过程的平行分布加工模型。     

How smart do you need to be to get it wrong? The role of cognitive capacity in the development of heuristic-based judgment

We examined the relationship between cognitive capacity and heuristic responding on four types of reasoning and decision-making tasks. A total of 84 children, between 5 years 2 months and 11 years 7 months of age, participated in the study. There was a marked increase in heuristic responding with age that was related to increases in cognitive capacity. These findings are inconsistent with the predominant dual-process accounts of reasoning and decision making as applied to development. We offer an alternative explanation of the findings, considering them in the context of recent claims concerning the role of working memory in contextualized reasoning.     

The Stroop phenomenon and its use in the stlldy of perceptual,cognitive, and response processes

The present review summarizes empirical findings and theoretical views related to the Stroop color-word test. Lyperimental findings were emphasized in contrast to the results of correlational studies, and the bulk of the material was produced since the 1966 review of Jensen and Rohwer. One purpose of the review was to illustrate use of the Stroop paradigm as a too! for the stud)’ of other psychological processes. The incompleteness, and in some cases the mappropnateness, of existing explanatisons of the Stroop phenomenon also were discussed. nt]mis|The author is grateful to E. C. Dalrymple-Alford. George S. Harker, and Anne Treisman for their comments on an earlier draft of the paper.     

Task conflict,information processing,and decision-making: The damaging effect of relationship conflict

A popular theoretical assumption holds that task-related disagreements stimulate critical thinking, and thus may improve group decision making. Two recent meta-analyses showed, however, that task conflict can have a positive effect, a negative effect, or no effect at all on decision-making quality (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003; De Wit, Greer, & Jehn, 2012). In two studies, we built upon the suggestion of both meta-analyses that the presence of relationship conflict determines whether a task conflict is positively or negatively related to decision making. We hypothesized and found that the level of perceived relationship conflict during task conflict (Study 1), and the actual presence (vs. absence) of relationship conflict during task conflict (Study 2), increased group members’ rigidity in holding onto suboptimal initial preferences during decision making and thus led to poor decisions. In both studies the effect of relationship conflict on decision making was mediated by biased use of information.