30 Second Science - Stroop's Effect

Here's a test that's actually fun to take.

Time yourself as you say the colors, that the words below are written in. Don't worry about what the words are, just say the colors they are written in.

Blue Orange Red

Green Yellow Purple

Pink Brown Black

Now time yourself again as you do the same thing with the words bellow. Say the color of the word, not the word itself.

Blue Orange Red

Green Yellow Purple

Pink Brown Black

If your like most people, it took you about twice as long to say the colors of the words in the second group. This effect is named after Ridley Stroop who first published the effect in English in 1935 (per Wikipedia).

Another fun extension of this test, would be to write out the words in a second language that you are familiar with, and time yourself again. I'd like to try this with a language that uses symbols, such as Chinese, but we need to spend a little time reviewing our language skills first.

It's great to be a homeschooler.