Stroop Colour and Word Test

Purpose: Differentiate normal, non-brain damaged psychiatric and brain damaged subjects

Age: Children's: 5-14 years; Adult: 15+ years

Time: 5 minutes

The Stroop Color and Word Test provides 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.

 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 input.

Each Stroop Test Booklet consists of three basic parts: Word Page-the names of colour printed in black ink; Colour Page-semantically meaningless symbols (X) printed in coloured ink, and Colour-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.