Recall of parent–child experience and performance on the Stroop Test.

Abstract

In two experiments, late adolescents who recalled different parent-child experiences performed the Stroop Color-Naming Test while listening lo aversive cues from actors simulating a mother or a father. Generally, subjects experienced more cognitive disruption (as measured by reaction time) when their recalled experience of aversive control matched the aversive cue. In one phase of his investigation of childrearing patterns and schizophrenia. Heilbrun found such results lor the molher-son relationship. The present studies demonstrate the effect with daughters as well as sons, and with father, mother, or both parents as the recalled aversive control agent.

Schizophrenia and the Stroop Effect

“…It should also be noted that many of the studies that have reported increased Stroop interference in schizophrenia patients have only reported performance in the incongruent condition without calculating an "interference" or "cost" relative to a baseline condition. It seems that when researchers use only the incongruent condition of the task (McCormick et al, 1980;Porterfield & Golding, 1985), it is not clear what aspect of schizophrenia performance they are probing. RT studies suggest that the incongruent condition measures both general performance (e.g., general RT slowing associated with schizophrenia) as well as specific attentional deficits.…”

“…This selective review emphasizes studies that examine the relation between the Stroop effect and components of the Stroop effect in patients with schizophrenia. For the most part, the review does not include studies that (a) employed the Stroop effect to screen subjects (Heilbrun, 1973); (b) used Stroop conditions to create a composite score, for example, a 'frontal score' (Stam et al, 1993); or (c) used only one component of the Stroop task as the dependent variable (McCormick, Toland, & O'Neill, 1980;Porterfield & Golding, 1985). In the latter case, when only the incongruent condition is used, it is not possible to look at interference, facilitation, or an overall congruency effect (incongruent minus congruent), all of which are of central interest in the current review.…”