Stroop process dissociations: The relationship between facilitation and interference.

Abstract

L.L. Jacoby's (1991) "process dissociation procedure" was used to quantitatively estimate the contributions of color-naming and word-reading processes to responding on the Stroop task. The results show that color naming and word reading can operate independently to determine responses. Degrading stimulus colors eliminated the typical asymmetry between Stroop facilitation and interference, as predicted by the equations (Experiments 1 and 2). Degrading stimulus colors reduced the estimated contribution of color naming to responding but had no effect on the estimated contribution of word reading (Experiment 2). In contrast, increasing the proportion of incongruent items reduced the estimated contribution of word reading but had no effect on the estimated contribution of color naming (Experiments 3 and 4). The results indicate that the facilitating and interfering effects of automatic processes cannot be accurately measured in terms of differences from baseline.