Based on the Hullian proposition that habit and drive combine, the effects of stress on the Stroop Color-Word Test were investigated in 48 college students, under the expectation that stress lVould effect performance differentially, depending upon the nature of the incongruous stimuli. Significant main effects, stress and competition, as well as their interaction, were found.stroop (1935), observing that it takes more time to name colors than to read color llames (Brown, 1915;Lund, 1927;Ligon, 1932), proposed a technique for investigating the interfering effect of the presence of conflicting word stimuli upon naming colors (e.g., the word "blue" is printed on the color red, the task being to name the color of the ink and ignore the word). The series of tasks has proved discriminative in studies attempting to elaborate cognitive styles (Broverman & Lazarus, 1958;Broverman, 1960), in studies comparing groups which are ordered developmentally (Comalli, Wapner, & Werner, 1962;Schiller, 1966), and in Ss under primitivizing drugs vs placebo conditions (Wapner & Krus, 1960).The present study sought to vary the strength of the incorrect competing response relative to the correct response by varying the relationship between color and text. Word meanings that implicate the colors should be more interfering than simply meaningful but unrelated words; words referring directly to color should be more interfering than connotatively related words; greatest of all should be the interference of words that are themselves the names of the printed color names (Klein, 1964). Stress was applied in the form of introducing time pressures into the task. In the stress condition, the Shad 1 sec to respond, while in the nonstress condition, he had 2 sec. If, on the basis of Hull's (1943) original assumption that all momentarily operative motivational factors or drives (D) combine indiscriminately with all existing habitual tendencies (H) that are aroused by the stimulus situation to produce response strength (E), the stimulus situation gives rise to more than one response; the effects of increased drive, according to this assumption, are expected to depend on the strength of the to-be-Iearned (correct) response relative to other competing (incorrect) responses. Thus, where the correct response (naming the color) has a lower habit strength than the competing response (reading the color word), high drive (stress) would be predicted to be detrimental to performance.Psychon. Sci., 1967. Vol. 9 (8) Method SIDNEY H. HOCHMAN QUEENS COLLEGE, CUNYFour different lists of words were used. Each word was printed either in red, blue, or green. In List I, the words were the same as the color names, but presented in incongruent combinations of color and word ("blue" printed in red); in List 2 they were different words of the same response class (tan, gray, blaCk); in List 3, they were words that are not themselves color names but implicate the colors in their meaning (sky, fire, grass) and were presented in incongruent combinations with the colors; and in...

Sumnzary.-The performance of 60 fourth grade children under stress and nonstress conditions and 5 levels of response competition was investigated. Based on the Hullian proposition that habit and drive combine, it was predicted that stress would affect performance differentially, depending upon the narure of the incongruous stimuli. Significant main effects of stress and competition and their interaction were found. Stroop ( 1935), observing that it takes more time to name colors than to read color names (Brown, 1915;Lund, 1927;Ligon, 1932), proposed a technique for investigating the interfering effect of the presence of conflicting word stimuli upon naming colors. The test consists of three cards of material which S is instr~~cted to read a l o~~d as rapidly as possible. Card A contains 100 colorname words ("red," "blue," and "green") arranged in random order and printed in black ink. S must read the words. On Card B are printed 100 rectangular patches of color (same colors as the words on Card A ) which are arranged in random order. S must name the colors. Card C presents again in random order 100 color-name words which are printed in an ink whose color is incongruent with the color-name, e.g., the word "blue" is printed in the color red. S must name the color of the ink, while ignoring the printed word. Thus, Card C, the critical part of the test, presents a highly automatized activity (reading colorwords) in conflict with the naming of a perceptual property (color). The series of tasks has proved discriminative in studies attempting to elaborate cognitive styles (Broverman & Lazarus, 1958;Broverman, 1960), in studies comparing groups which are ordered developmentally (Comalli, Wapner, & Werner, 1962;Schiller, 1966), and work with Ss under primitivizing drugs vs placebo conditions (Wapner & Krus, 1960).As suggested by Klein (1964), the present study sought to vary the strength of the incorrect competing response relacive to the correct response by varying the relationship between color and text. Commonly used words should be more interfering than rarely used words; word meanings that implicate the colors should be more interfering than simply meaningful but unrelated words; words referring directly to color should be more interfering than connotativeiy related words; greatest of all should be the interference of words which are themselves the names of the printed color names. Stress was applied in the , form of introducing time pressures into the task (Castaneda & Palermo, 1955). 'The author is grateful to Mr. Benjamin Ellman, Principal of P.S. 17 Queens, from which Ss were drawn, and to his teachers for their cooperation.

College students walking in the hallways of their school were asked by three female confederates to donate money into a canister to benefit a national charity. Confederates were dressed in “preppy” attire for half of the trials and in “messy” attire for the remaining trials. Each confederate approached 60 subjects (30 under each condition of dress) to request donations. Analysis indicated that the requester's attire significantly affected giving. Both male and female subjects were more likely to donate when the confederate was well-dressed. These findings support and extend earlier data with adults and with nonaltruistic requests; implications for charitable endeavors are drawn. Suggestions for research are also provided.

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The effects of overtraining on a reversal and nonreversal shift 1 Children, 12-13 years old, were given criterion or overtraining on a modified card sorting test, then transferred to a reversal or nonreversal shift. Type of shift was found to be significant, while degree of training had no significant effect. While the results of reversal ease are interpreted in terms of the operation of a dimension-specific mediator, the failure to find an ORE is acc ounted for in terms of the S's age, motivation, as well as prior experience in learning tasks.