The Stroop Color and Word Test

The Stroop Color and Word Test provide a diagnosis of brain dysfunction, and the evaluation of stress, personality cognition and psychopathology. The Stroop phenomenon has been found to be useful in the identification of a number of significant disorders and has been recommended as a valuable test for ADD/ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and to ascertain the degree of independence likely to be achieved by individuals with frontal lobe disorders.

Widely used for many years, the Stroop tests basic processes, is stable over long periods of time and is easy to administer and score.

The cognitive dimension tapped by Stroop is associated with cognitive flexibility, resistance to interference from outside stimuli, creativity and psychopathology-all of which influence the individual’s ability to cope with cognitive stress, and process complex output.

Since it requires only five minutes to administer, the Stroop Color and Word Test is an exceptionally useful screening instrument, which may be used alone, or as part of a larger screening battery.

Each Stroop Test Booklet consists of three basic parts: Word Page-the names of colour printed in black ink; Color Page-semantically meaningless symbols (X) printed in coloured ink, and Color-Word Page-comprised of the words from the first page, printed in the colours from the second page, with the restriction that the word and colour do not match.

The task is to look at each sheet and move down the columns, reading words or naming the ink colours, as quickly as possible, within a given time limit. The test yields three scores, and Interference, based on the number of items completed