Measuring the allocation of attention in the Stroop task: evidence from eye movement patterns

Abstract

Attention plays a crucial role in the Stroop task, which requires attending to less automatically processed task-relevant attributes of stimuli and the suppression of involuntary processing of task-irrelevant attributes. The experiment assessed the allocation of attention by monitoring eye movements throughout congruent and incongruent trials. Participants viewed two stimulus arrays that differed regarding the amount of items and their numerical value and judged by manual response which of the arrays contained more items, while disregarding their value. Different viewing patterns were observed between congruent (e.g., larger array of numbers with higher value) and incongruent (e.g., larger array of numbers with lower value) trials. The direction of first saccades was guided by task-relevant information but in the incongruent condition directed more frequently towards task-irrelevant information. The data further suggest that the difference in the deployment of attention between conditions changes throughout a trial, likely reflecting the impact and resolution of the conflict. For instance, stimulus arrays in line with the correct response were attended for longer and fixations were longer for incongruent trials, with the second fixation and considering all fixations. By the time of the correct response, this latter difference between conditions was absent. Possible mechanisms underlying eye movement patterns are discussed.

Attention and control of manual responses in cognitive conflict: Findings from TMS perturbation studies

“…Only very few studies assessed eye movements in the flanker task (Machado and Franz, 2004;Peschke et al, 2013) and in a numerical Stroop task (Olk, 2013). Those studies showed that eye movement patterns reflect the conflict (Peschke et al, 2013) and also allow to assess the allocation of attention as well as the resolution of the conflict (Olk, 2013). However, those studies did not include TMS.…”

“…This may be of particular importance when spatial attention is addressed. In the word-color version word and color occupy the same location but other versions, e.g., a numerical version, provide the opportunity to spatially separate attributes of the stimuli that are critical for the conflict in the incongruent condition (Washburn, 1994;Olk, 2013).…”

Eye Movement Performance on the Stroop Test in Adults With ADHD

“…Olk (2013) was the first to track eye movements while performing the Stroop test. The objective of the study was to determine how Stroop interference is reflected in the attention allocated by participants, by tracking their eye movements while they performed the task.…”

Characteristics of the King-Devick test in the assessment of concussed patients in the subacute and later stages after injury

“…Participants are asked to name the colour of the words presented as fast as they can [ 22 – 25 ]. This becomes more difficult to do if the colour is incongruent with the word [ 23 – 25 ]. It is easier to name the word ‘red’ if it is printed in red than if it is green.…”

“…In the latter situation, this conflict slows responding which leads to the ‘Stroop effect’ [ 23 – 25 ]. The scores on the task reflect how well participants can selectively direct attention to task relevant features while ignoring task-irrelevant features [ 23 – 25 ]. In our study, participants were asked to read the colour of words (blue, red, green) on a sheet of paper as fast as they can.…”