Perceptualand Motor Skills, 1991, 72, 961-962.
O Perceprual and Motor Skills 1991
CORRELATES O F MODIFIED STROOP TASKS, READING ABILITY, AND MENTAL ABILITY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS ' ROBERTA J. TOMA State University of New York College a! Oneonta
Summary.-13 men and 13 women in college viewed 40 modified Stroop tasks consisting of line drawings with embedded words and nonwords. Scores on vocabulary, reading comprehension, and a mental abilities measure were correlated with percent errors on the modified Stmop tasks. Significant correlations (.34 to .70) were found.
The Stroop color-word interference test (1935) or modified versions have made ~ossiblethe study of brain symmetry. A modified Stroop task of line drawings of common objects with embedded three- or four-letter words or scrambled words was used by Toma and Tsao (1985) in a study of brain laterality. Percent of errors were significantly higher when a line drawing with an embedded word was presented in the right visual field than in the left visual field, indicating interference effects of the words on naming the picture. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the modified Stroop tasks to variables in reading achievement, namely, reading comprehension and vocabulary and to scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. TABLE 1 PEARSON INTERCORRELATIONS OF STROOP ERRORS AND TEST SCORES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Peabody Reading rate Vocabulary errors Comprehension errors Right word errors Left word errors Right nonword errors Left nonword errors
The 13 men and 13 women students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and wrote with their right hands. Each subject viewed the 40 Stroop tasks (Toma & Tsao, 1985) in a 'Address correspondence to Roberta J. Torna, Education Department, State University of New York, Oneonta, NY 13820.
tachistoscope, 20 of which were projected in the right visual field and 20 in the left visual field. The subject was to name the line drawing with the embedded word or scrambled word in it as quickly as possible. Each subject was also given the vocabulary and comprehension subtests of the NelsonDenny Reading Test (Brown, Bennett, & Hanna, 1981) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Dunn & Dunn, 1981). Significant Pearson correlations were noted between errors in the right visual field and errors on the Nelson-Denny Vocabulary (r = .38, p < .05). Another significant correlation was between the Nelson-Denny Cornprehension scores and errors in the left visual field (r = .38, p < .05) as shown in the table. The modified Stroop tasks developed by Toma and Tsao may provide an alternative estimate of reading achievement. At the present time measures of reading have become the focus of much debate with regard to assessment of students of varied cultural background. With continued research a viable instrument may be developed using the modified Stroop tasks. REFERENCES BROWN,J. I., BENNETT,J. M., & HANNA, G. S. (1981) The Nelson-Denny Reading Test: Forms E and F. Chicago, IL: Riverside. DUNN,L. M., & DUNN,L. M. (1981) Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
STROOP, J. R. (1935) Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643-661. TOMA,R., & TSAO,Y-C. (1985) Interference effects in the Picture-Word Stroop Task. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 61, 223-228. Accepted May 14, 1991.
O Perceprual and Motor Skills 1991
CORRELATES O F MODIFIED STROOP TASKS, READING ABILITY, AND MENTAL ABILITY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS ' ROBERTA J. TOMA State University of New York College a! Oneonta
Summary.-13 men and 13 women in college viewed 40 modified Stroop tasks consisting of line drawings with embedded words and nonwords. Scores on vocabulary, reading comprehension, and a mental abilities measure were correlated with percent errors on the modified Stmop tasks. Significant correlations (.34 to .70) were found.
The Stroop color-word interference test (1935) or modified versions have made ~ossiblethe study of brain symmetry. A modified Stroop task of line drawings of common objects with embedded three- or four-letter words or scrambled words was used by Toma and Tsao (1985) in a study of brain laterality. Percent of errors were significantly higher when a line drawing with an embedded word was presented in the right visual field than in the left visual field, indicating interference effects of the words on naming the picture. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the modified Stroop tasks to variables in reading achievement, namely, reading comprehension and vocabulary and to scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. TABLE 1 PEARSON INTERCORRELATIONS OF STROOP ERRORS AND TEST SCORES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Peabody Reading rate Vocabulary errors Comprehension errors Right word errors Left word errors Right nonword errors Left nonword errors
The 13 men and 13 women students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute had normal or corrected-to-normal vision and wrote with their right hands. Each subject viewed the 40 Stroop tasks (Toma & Tsao, 1985) in a 'Address correspondence to Roberta J. Torna, Education Department, State University of New York, Oneonta, NY 13820.
tachistoscope, 20 of which were projected in the right visual field and 20 in the left visual field. The subject was to name the line drawing with the embedded word or scrambled word in it as quickly as possible. Each subject was also given the vocabulary and comprehension subtests of the NelsonDenny Reading Test (Brown, Bennett, & Hanna, 1981) and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Dunn & Dunn, 1981). Significant Pearson correlations were noted between errors in the right visual field and errors on the Nelson-Denny Vocabulary (r = .38, p < .05). Another significant correlation was between the Nelson-Denny Cornprehension scores and errors in the left visual field (r = .38, p < .05) as shown in the table. The modified Stroop tasks developed by Toma and Tsao may provide an alternative estimate of reading achievement. At the present time measures of reading have become the focus of much debate with regard to assessment of students of varied cultural background. With continued research a viable instrument may be developed using the modified Stroop tasks. REFERENCES BROWN,J. I., BENNETT,J. M., & HANNA, G. S. (1981) The Nelson-Denny Reading Test: Forms E and F. Chicago, IL: Riverside. DUNN,L. M., & DUNN,L. M. (1981) Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
STROOP, J. R. (1935) Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643-661. TOMA,R., & TSAO,Y-C. (1985) Interference effects in the Picture-Word Stroop Task. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 61, 223-228. Accepted May 14, 1991.
