Citation
Jaripour, E. (2026). Stroop Interference in Reaction Time and Accuracy: A Behavioral and Computational Analysis. Research Square Preprint. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-10287577/v1
Abstract
The Stroop task is a classic paradigm for studying cognitive interference, selective attention, and response competition. By analyzing behavioral data from 81 participants, this study examined how congruent, incongruent, and neutral conditions affect reaction time and accuracy. The dataset contained trial-level responses from a publicly available Stroop experiment. In the preprocess, probe trials, invalid reaction times, and extreme values were removed. In addition, the participant–session structure in the raw files was resolved. The results showed a robust Stroop interference effect. The fastest reaction times were in the congruent condition, and the slowest in the incongruent condition. The neutral condition contained intermediate performances. The mean interference effect is defined as the difference in reaction time between incongruent and congruent trials. It was 106 ms. A paired-samples t-test confirmed a significant difference between incongruent and congruent conditions, with t(80) = 17.77, p < .001, and a large effect size (dz = 1.97). It showed strong interference at the group level. Accuracy remained high across conditions, with little evidence of a speed–accuracy trade-off. Assumption checks supported the use of parametric analysis.
Key Contributions
- Quantified Stroop interference at both group and individual levels using an open behavioral dataset.
- Characterized reaction-time and accuracy differences across congruent, neutral, and incongruent conditions.
- Examined the relationship between baseline processing speed and interference magnitude.
- Developed and evaluated a minimal computational model of Stroop interference.
- Integrated behavioral analysis and computational modeling within a fully reproducible research workflow.