Effects of Stimulus-Response Modality Compatibility on the Stroop Effect

This study examined whether the translation model (TM) which places emphasis on the modalities of stimuli and responses would be a valid model to explain the Stroop effect. In experiment 1, the Stroop effect was examined by using manual- and verbal-response Stroop tasks, respectively. In experiment 2, similar to the task used by Durgin (2003), target stimuli, distracters as well as response patches were displayed on the same screen and the Stroop effect was measured in terms of the mental modality representation of the responses verbally or nonverbally. The results of experiment 1, where response modalities were physically classified, showed that there were no significant differences in the Stroop effect due to the different response modalities, while experiment 2 showed an asymmetrical Stroop effect due to the response modalities. These results supported the prediction by the TM that a distracter stimulus does not cast an interference effect under conditions in which the target stimuli and responses are compatible in modality. Therefore, the findings offer evidence that the TM can be considered as a valid model for explaining the Stroop effect.