When Is Red Not Red? Frugal Friday.

Red. Purple. When is red not red?

Anterior Cingulate Cortex, The Part of the Brain Involved in Resolving Conflicting Information

A friend’s daughter asked to interview me for her science fair project.

Curious, I agreed.

She showed up with a stopwatch and a couple sheets of paper.

She asked me to read the first line, a list of colors. I read out loud while she timed me.

Then, she asked me to read the second line.

This was harder. It was a list of colors, but the colors of the words did not match the names of the colors you were reading.

That is, you might be reading the word red, but it was printed in purple.

Try reading a word that is a different color from the word you are reading.

You have to concentrate.

The Stroop Effect Discovered

The difference in reaction time between reading two lists of words, one printed in black, one printed in colors different from the words portrayed is called the Stroop Effect, after its discoverer, J. Ridley Stroop.

He determined that when we read, we are processing what we read and if it is inconsistent with the words, our brains take extra time to sort out this difference.

What Good Is It?

The Stroop Effect is most pronounced in children who have learned to read, but not yet matured enough to redirect their brains to account for the disparity between words and reality.

As we mature into adults, the effect fades but does not disappear.

It can be used to determine brain damage and the effects of aging.

It can be used to determine the effects of altitude sickness on mountain climbers

I did not ask for the results of my neighbor’s tests.

I don’t know what her hypothesis was to start with, so don’t know what results she was expecting to see or if her testing agreed or disagreed with the results of her tests.

Was she interviewing children and adults of varying ages and graphing the results?

Was she looking to see if there were differences between men and women

Might there be a difference for non-native English speakers? How great? Does it track with ages?

Does It Matter for Grandparents?

Brain puzzles are now quite popular. Research tells us that the brain, like any other muscle, works better and longer if we use it actively throughout our lives.

Just like the Sudoku puzzles that are now so popular, training your brain to recognize words that are different from the colors they are printed in, can be a different way to exercise your brain.

Make Your Own

Your grandchildren can make up their own Stroop Effect test.

Have them write out a list of color words, red, purple, blue, green, pink, yellow, orange, brown, gray, white, black, tan.

But, when they write the list, they should use crayons that are different colors from the words they are writing.

Writing three words across, in four rows, is a good test.

Then, with a watch that has a second hand, they should time how long it takes for different people to read the words, then how long to say the colors of the words.

The difference between these two numbers, the difference in reaction time to reading compared to saying colors that are different from the words, is the Stroop Effect.

Free Tests for You

Click here if you want a Mini-Stroop test you can print out on a color printer.

Click here to take a test with the computer keeping track of the time.

Click here to see a YouTube video demonstration.

Can you beat your grandchildren at this test?

What was your favorite science fair project?

Do you do Sudokus?

Click here to get these Frugal Friday posts in your Reader, fun activities to share with your grandchildren.

To you, stretching your brain and having fun with your grandchildren.

Carol Covin, “Granny-Guru”

Author, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

http://newgrandmas.com