Patterns of adaptation in obsessive-compulsive disorder: multivariate indicators of greater variability and linear change compared to controls

Patterns of adaptation to conflict in persons with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder were assessed with the Serial Color-Word Test. Obsessive-Compulsive patients (n=50) were compared with an age- and sex-matched group of nonclinical volunteers. Measures of linear and nonlinear change in reading times during each of the five consecutive trials of the test were compared between groups by means of a multivariate model with doubly repeated measures. The multivariate analysis yielded a significant between-groups result (Wilks Lambda = .76, p < .001), mainly supported by higher values of nonlinear change in the Obsessive-Compulsive group. Thus, the discriminative ability of the Serial Color-Word Test was confirmed when individual differences were removed from the error term.     

Patterns of adaptation and directions of aggression

A group of 85 nonclinical women volunteers were given the Serial Color-Word Test and the Personality Deviance Scale to verify whether different patterns of adaptation to the Stroop task correspond to significant differences in directing aggression. It was predicted that subjects with the Dissociative pattern, i.e., high values of nonlinear changes in reading times, would score lower on Intropunitiveness than subjects with the Cumulative pattern, i.e., high values of linear changes in reading times. The hypothesis was confirmed (p = .005). No other significant intergroup difference was found, aside from a slightly higher mean score of Extrapunitiveness in the Cumulative group, compared with that for the Stabilized one (p = .04).     

Sex differences on the serial color-word test

The Serial Color-Word Test was administered to nonclinical volunteers of three age strata (17-29, 30-45, 46-65 yr.). Sex differences on the 17 variables of the test were explored for each age stratum. Only six significant intersex differences were found. In all age strata women scored significantly higher on linear regression of reading times in one of the last two subtests, i.e., R4 or R5.     

Microgenetic patterns of adaptation on the Stroop task by patients with bronchial asthma and duodenal peptic ulcer

Microgenetic patterns of adaptation on the Stroop task were assessed by means of the Serial Color-Word Test given 21 patients with bronchial asthma and 20 with duodenal peptic ulcer, who were compared with 41 normal controls matched for sex, age, and education. Two measures were calculated on each of the five trials of the test, one of linear change and one of nonlinear change in reading times. As predicted, patients presented more frequently patterns characterized by high nonlinear change and less frequently stabilized patterns (low linear and nonlinear change of reading speed). Linear and nonlinear change were then calculated on the five linear change scores and the five nonlinear change scores; again patients presented more frequently patterns characterized by high nonlinear change on both the linear change scores and nonlinear change scores and less frequently stabilized patterns. These findings indicate strong similarities between the adaptation patterns of patients with ulcer and asthma and the microgenetic patterns previously known to characterize neurotic and psychotic patients. Furthermore, scores on the Serial Color-Word Test also differentiated between ulcer and asthma groups.     

Serial color-word test predicts outcome of pharmacological treatment for panic disorder.

A group of 50 outpatients with Panic Disorder were given the Serial Color-Word Test at the beginning of a standard pharmacological treatment (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and benzodiazepines). A single treating psychiatrist, blind to test results, judged therapy outcome at a 5-mo. follow-up. Among the main types of adaptation to conflict assessed by the test (Stabilized, Cumulative, Dissociative, and Cumulative-Dissociative), the Stabilized pattern predicted a good therapy outcome. Response to therapy among the patients with a Stabilized pattern was judged as more often good and less often moderate or poor, compared with the members of the other three adaptation classes (p=.004), and specifically with the patients resorting to a Cumulative strategy (p=.005).     

Patterns of adaptation in asthma and psoriasis

Patterns of adaptation to a conflict situation were explored by means of the repeated confrontation with the Stroop task (Serial Color-Word Test) in two clinical groups: bronchial asthma (n=40) and psoriasis (n=28). The respective psychosomatic component of each of these syndromes was expected to correspond to peculiar patterns of adaptation. Differences between asthma and psoriasis patients were statistically significant. Asthma was characterized by patterns with high values of nonlinear change, both within each subtest (Primary Types) and across the five subtests (Secondary Types). Psoriatic patients were classified most often as having the C(V) type (high linear increase of nonlinear changes across the subtests) and showed some more ITA+ types, i.e., within the first subtest, longer reading time at the beginning, followed by uniformly faster times.     

Schizophrenic reactions in the Serial Spiral After-Effect Test

A group of 52 schizophrenics, 13 neurotics and 30 normals were studied by means of the Serial Spiral After-Effect Test. Schizophrenics with classical overt symptoms showed significantly higher values compared to neurotics, normals and latent schizophrenics on the residual variability in ten consecutive durations of the after-effect, i.e. the total variability minus the variability ascribable to linear change. Significant correlations were obtained between residnal variability in the Serial Spiral After-Effect Test and psychosis, as assessed by a psychiatric rating scale for the schizophrenics with classical overt symptoms, when the mean level in the Serial Spiral After-Effect Test was checked.     

Differentiating clinical groups using the serial color-word test (S-CWT)

The present study attempted to differentiate 11 diagnostic groups by means of the Serial Color-Word Test (S-CWT), using multivariate discriminant analysis. Two alternative scoring systems of the S-CWT were outlined. Asample of 514 individuals who had clinical diagnoses of various types and 397 controls who had no diagnostic findings comprised the sample. The first discriminant analysis failed to differentiate the groups adequately. The groups were consequently reduced to four (schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, temporo-mandibular joint pain dysfunction syndrome, and eating disturbances), which gave better reclassification findings for a clinical application of the test. This classification gave over 55% correct assignments. The final four groups had a statistically significant discrimination on the test, which remained stable also in a bootstrap procedure. Implications for treatment indications and outcomes as well as strategies for further studies using the S-CWT are discussed.     

Patterns of adaptation and school performance: a pilot study

A group of 34 pupils from two school classes (Class 8, M = 13.1 yr., SD=0.5) were administered the Serial Color-Word Test to assess the pattern of adaptation during repeated exposure to the Stroop task (5 massed trials). The typological classification, centered on measures of linear (R) and nonlinear (V) change of reading times, employed norms derived from the medians of the group. The Stabilized primary pattern (low R and low V) corresponded to higher grades, compared with the other 3 primary patterns. Concerning the secondary classification across trials (based on the R and V of the 5 Rs, and on the R and V of the 5 Vs), better school performance was found among subjects with a linear increase of linear changes across trials (high R of the 5 Rs; CR pattern), compared with subjects with a nonlinear increase of linear changes (high V of the 5 Rs; DR and CDR patterns).     

Patterns of adaptation and personality disorders

Patterns of adaptation to conflict were explored with the Serial Color-Word Test, and personality disorders were assessed by means of the Coolidge Axis II Inventory in a group of 76 nonpsychotic women volunteers in the age range 18-50 yr. (M=29.1 yr., SD=8.3), who attended a psychiatric outpatients unit. Forward multiple regression analyses were performed to investigate whether patterns of adaptation were associated with personality disorders. 10 out of 13 personality scales, as measured by the Coolidge Axis II Inventory, were significantly predicted by adaptive variables. Some predictors were positive and others were negative. The variable R(AD) was a negative predictor of avoidant and dependent personalities, and a positive predictor of Extraversion, Aggressive personality, and Antisocial personality; this finding suggests that R(AD) may represent the regulative counterpart of a continuum from passive introversion to aggressive extraversion. The results encourage further research on nontrait laboratory correlates of personality disorders.     

Improved reliability estimates for the serial color-word test

Starting from Lennart Sjöberg's serial scoring of the Color-Word Test and his critical review of the test, the possibilities of attaining better reliability estimates are briefly surveyed. As a simple step, the orthogonalization of the regression model is suggested. Ways of maximizing the reliability estimate are demonstrated. On the basis of 261 subjects from five differing subsamples, clinical and control groups, the reliability estimates of the oblique system of the orthogonalized system and of the maximum reliability solutions are compared empirically. The significance of the results for test theoretic evaluation of the Color-Word Test is discussed.     

Concurrent validity of a children's version of the Stroop Color-Word Test: the Fruit Distraction Test

To assess the concurrent validity of the Fruit Distraction Test, the Stroop Color-Word Test and the Fruit Distraction Test were administered to two groups of boys aged 12 yr. (N = 63) and 8 yr. (N = 52). Partial correlations, with IQ controlled, based on time and error scores derived from both tests, provided no convincing evidence that the Fruit Distraction Test is a valid downward extension of the Stroop.     

DIFFERENCES IN VERBALLY EXPRESSED COGNITION FOLLOWING LEFT AND RIGHT VENTROLATERAL THALAMOTOMY

A lmgren , P.-E., A ndersson , A. L. & K ullberg , G. Differences in verbally expressed cognition following left and right ventrolateral thalamotomy. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1969, 10 , 243–249.—Patients with Parkinson's disease, subjected to ventrolateral thalamotomy, 44 on the left side and 23 on the right, were tested pre- and postoperatively with the Color-Word Test (CWT), a memory test of word pairs (WPT), and Raven's Progressive Matrices Test (PMT). As to performance change from pre- to postoperative testing, there were significant differences between the two groups of operatees on the CWT (p =0.000001, at best) and the WPT(p = 0.01), implying a less effective postoperative performance in the group with left-sided thalamic lesion. Such a lesion seems to impair the continuous suppression of previously relevant information in connection with selection of the appropriate verbal response.     

Type A behavior, aerobic power, and cardiovascular recovery from a psychosocial stressor

Fifty-six male university students were tested for actual aerobic power and Type A behavior (Form T of the Jenkins Activity Survey) before performing the Stroop Color-Word Interference Test. Neither fitness nor Type A was related to magnitude of heart rate (HR) increase, and only Type A was related to speed of recovery following the test, with Type As being slower to return to baseline HR levels than Type Bs. These results are discussed in terms of the need to consider factors that mediate speed of recovery from stress.     

Frontal lobe deficits in domestic violence offenders

Functional frontal lobe deficits were examined in 38 men who committed domestic violence and 38 control participants. Dependent measures that examine frontal lobe deficits, including the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (D. A. Grant & E. A. Berg, 1948), the Stroop Color-Word Test (J. R. Stroop, 1935), and Trails B (R. M. Reitan & L. A. Davidson, 1974), were used. The prediction that men who commit domestic violence would perform more poorly on neuropsychological measures related to frontal lobe deficits was only partially supported. A discriminate analysis was significant (p < .05), explaining approximately 7% of the variance; Trails B was the only contributor to that equation. The men who committed battery took significantly longer to complete Trails B than the control participants, suggesting that the men who committed battery may not have been as good as the control participants at inhibiting the competing response and therefore took longer to complete the task. The groups did not significantly differ on the other neuropsychological measures.     

Artists, architects, and engineers--three contrasting modes of visual experience and their psychological correlates

Over a period of five years, 31 architects, 28 artists, and 26 engineers, a total of 85 outstanding individuals in their respective fields, were studied intensively with a psychological test battery consisting of the Holtzman Inkblot Technique, Time Estimation measures, the Stroop Color-Word Test, the Embedded Figures Test, the Autokinetic Effect, Byrne's Repression-Sensitization Inventory, the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale, and the Welsh Figure Preference Test. Each subject in the study was chosen by a panel of faculty members as the most outstanding advanced students in nonrepresentational abstract art, architecture, and engineering drawing Highly significant differences were found between the three groups for a number of variables that had been predicted on the basis of previous research and theoretical considerations. These results served to validate the meaning of the perception variables while also giving additional insight into the differences between these three contrasting modes of visual experience as exemplified by the three occupational groups     

A revised spatial serial learning and memory procedure using Corsi's Block-tapping apparatus

The purpose of this study was to use Corsi's Block Tapping Test as a spatial analog of Benton's Serial Digit Learning Test, using the cognitive neuroscience approach utilized in the California Verbal Learning Test. 60 normal participants, ages 19-52 years, were included and administered an 8-block sequence for 9 trials or until they recalled the entire sequence for 3 consecutive errorless trials. The score was the number of blocks tapped in the correct serial order. An interference trial was administered. Following a 10-min. delay, free recall of the original sequence, cued recall, and recognition measures were obtained. Retroactive interference was significant, but no proactive interference emerged. Scores showed a strong primacy effect. Most participants who learned the sequence to the criterion of three successive errorless trials recalled the sequence after the 10-min. delay. Scores on the cued recall and recognition trials tended to support their validity as less demanding retrieval tasks. The use of this spatial learning and memory procedure allows finer discriminations among nonverbal memory deficits and may facilitate direct comparisons with scores on verbal memory tasks such as Serial Digit Learning and the California Verbal Learning Test.     

The stroop color-word interference test as an indicator of ADHD in poor readers

The performance on the Stroop Color-Word Interference Test of 36 boys with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was compared with performances of a matched control sample. The control group outperformed their counterparts on the control and interference conditions of the Stroop test, suggesting ADHD-specific executive and reading deficits. When individuals with both ADHD and reading disorders were excluded from the analysis, the authors found a significant difference between the ADHD group and the control group on the color-word test, indicating that poor reading skills may produce false negatives on the Stroop test. However, fast and slow readers with ADHD did not perform differently from each other on the color-word test. The authors postulated the existence of two different causes of reading problems: phonological deficits and attentional deficits.     

Poor readers but compelled to read: Stroop effects in developmental dyslexia.

We studied a group of 24 children with dyslexia in second to fifth primary school grades by using a discrete-trial computerized version of the Stroop Color-Word Test. Since the classic Stroop effect depends on the interference of reading with color naming, one would expect these children to show no interference or, at least, less interference than normal readers. Children with dyslexia showed, however, a Stroop effect larger than normal readers of the same age. This suggests that reading, although difficult and slow, is an inescapable step that precedes naming both in poor and in normal readers.     

Poor Readers but Compelled to Read: Stroop Effects in Developmental Dyslexia

We studied a group of 24 children with dyslexia in second to fifth primary school grades by using a discrete-trial computerized version of the Stroop Color-Word Test. Since the classic Stroop effect depends on the interference of reading with color naming, one would expect these children to show no interference or, at least, less interference than normal readers. Children with dyslexia showed, however, a Stroop effect larger than normal readers of the same age. This suggests that reading, although difficult and slow, is an inescapable step that precedes naming both in poor and in normal readers.