Spatial Stroop
Spatial Variant
What is this?
Arrows appear above or below center. The arrow direction may conflict with its position. When an upward-pointing arrow appears at the bottom of the screen, the mismatch between its direction and position creates spatial interference, a non-verbal form of the Stroop effect.
What does it measure?
Spatial interference between position and directional meaning. Unlike the classic Stroop, this variant does not require reading ability, making it useful for testing young children, individuals with reading difficulties, and for cross-cultural research where language differences might confound results.
How it works
- 1An arrow pointing up or down appears at the top or bottom of the screen.
- 2Identify the DIRECTION the arrow points, ignoring its position.
- 3For example, if an upward arrow appears at the bottom of the screen, the answer is up.
- 4Respond as quickly and accurately as possible for each trial.
Fun fact
Five different spatial Stroop tasks exist: Perifoveal, Navon, Figure-Ground, Flanker, and Saliency. Each one probes a slightly different aspect of spatial processing and attentional control, revealing the many ways position and direction information can create cognitive conflict.