Training and Stroop-like interference: evidence for a continuum of automaticity

Three experiments varied the extent of practice in an analog of the Stroop color-work task. Each experiment involved four phases: (a) baseline naming of four familiar colors, (b) training in consistently naming four novel shapes by using the names of the same four colors, (c) naming the colors when they appeared in the form of the shapes, and (d) naming the shapes when they appeared in color. In Experiment 1, with up to 2 hr of training in shape naming, colors were named much faster than shapes. Interference was observed only in Phase 4. In Experiment 2, with 5 hr of training, shape naming sped up, but was still slower than color naming. Nevertheless, there was symmetrical interference in Phases 3 and 4, and this persisted 3 months later without further training. Experiment 3 replicated this pattern and then extended practice to 20 hr, by which time shape and color naming were equally rapid. After 20 hr, interference appeared only in Phase 3, reversing the original asymmetry. The overall pattern is inconsistent with a simple speed of processing account of interference. The alternative idea of a continuum of automaticity--a direct consequence of training--remains plausible, and the implications of this perspective are considered.