Name: the emotional stroop task: assessing cognitive performance under exposure to emotional content
Uploaded: 2016-06-29T13:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about The Emotional Stroop Task: Assessing Cognitive Performance under Exposure to Emotional Content at JoVE.com

The authors have no acknowledgements.

The protocol follows the guidelines of Tel-Aviv University Helsinki human research ethics committee.
1. Word Selection and Matching 
<ol>
	<li>Create lists of words for each word category of interest. For example, make lists of generally emotional words (e.g., HATE, POX), concern relevance words (e.g., RAPE, VICTIM), and neutral words that are preferably orthographic neighbors21 of the emotional/concern relevant words (e.g., GATE, BOX). Create lists with as ...

<ol>
	<li>Williams, J. M. G., Mathews, A., MacLeod, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+emotional+stroop+task+and+psychopathology.">The emotional stroop task and psychopathology.</a> Psychol. Bull. 120 (1), 3-24 (1996).</li><li>Algom, D., Chajut, E., Lev, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=A+rational+look+at+the+emotional+Stroop+phenomenon:+A+generic+slowdown,+not+a+Stroop+effect.">A rational look at the emotional Stroop phenomenon: A generic slowdown, not a Stroop effect.</a> J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 133 (3), 323-338 (2004).</li><li>Ben-Haim, M. S., Mama, Y., Icht, M., Algom, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Is+the+emotional+Stroop+task+a+special+case+of+mood+induction?+Evidence+from+sustained+effects+of+attention+under+emotion.">Is the emotional Stroop task a special case of mood induction? Evidence from sustained effects of attention under emotion.</a> Atten. Percept. Psycho. 76 (1), 81-97 (2014).</li><li>Holle, C., Neely, J. H., Heimberg, R. G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+effects+of+blocked+versus+random+presentation+and+semantic+relatedness+of+stimulus+words+on+response+to+a+modified+Stroop+task+among+social+phobics.">The effects of blocked versus random presentation and semantic relatedness of stimulus words on response to a modified Stroop task among social phobics.</a> Cognitive Ther. Res. 21 (6), 681-697 (1997).</li><li>Richards, A., French, C. C., Johnson, W., Naparstek, J., Williams, J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Effects+of+Mood+Manipulation+and+Anxiety+on+Performance+of+an+Emotional+Stroop+Task.">Effects of Mood Manipulation and Anxiety on Performance of an Emotional Stroop Task.</a> Br.J.Psychol. 83, 479-491 (1992).</li><li>Stroop, J. R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Studies+of+Interference+in+Serial+Verbal+Reactions+(Reprinted+from+Journal+Experimental-Psychology,+Vol+18,+Pg+643-662,+1935).">Studies of Interference in Serial Verbal Reactions (Reprinted from Journal Experimental-Psychology, Vol 18, Pg 643-662, 1935).</a> J. Exp. Psychol. Gen. 121 (1), 15-23 (1992).</li><li>Bar-Haim, Y., Lamy, D., Pergamin, L., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Threat-related+attentional+bias+in+anxious+and+nonanxious+individuals:+A+meta-analytic+study.">Threat-related attentional bias in anxious and nonanxious individuals: A meta-analytic study.</a> Psychol.Bull. 133 (1), 1-24 (2007).</li><li>Mathews, A., Mogg, K., Kentish, J., Eysenck, M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Effect+of+Psychological+Treatment+on+Cognitive+Bias+in+Generalized+Anxiety+Disorder.">Effect of Psychological Treatment on Cognitive Bias in Generalized Anxiety Disorder.</a> Behav. Res. Ther. 33 (3), 293-303 (1995).</li><li>Mogg, K., Bradley, B. P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Attentional+bias+in+generalized+anxiety+disorder+versus+depressive+disorder.">Attentional bias in generalized anxiety disorder versus depressive disorder.</a> Cognitive. Ther. Res. 29 (1), 29-45 (2005).</li><li>Mogg, K., Kentish, J., Bradley, B. P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Effects+of+Anxiety+and+Awareness+on+Color-Identification+Latencies+for+Emotional+Words.">Effects of Anxiety and Awareness on Color-Identification Latencies for Emotional Words.</a> Behav. Res. Ther. 31 (6), 559-567 (1993).</li><li>Rutherford, E. M., MacLeod, C., Campbell, L. W. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Negative+selectivity+effects+and+emotional+selectivity+effects+in+anxiety:+Differential+attentional+correlates+of+state+and+trait+variables.">Negative selectivity effects and emotional selectivity effects in anxiety: Differential attentional correlates of state and trait variables.</a> Cognition. Emotion. 18 (5), 711-720 (2004).</li><li>Foa, E. B., Ilai, D., Mccarthy, P. R., Shoyer, B., Murdock, T. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Information-Processing+in+Obsessive-Compulsive+Disorder.">Information-Processing in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.</a> Cognitive. Ther. Res. 17 (2), 173-189 (1993).</li><li>Mcnally, R. J., Riemann, B. C., Louro, C. E., Lukach, B. M., Kim, E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Cognitive+Processing+of+Emotional+Information+in+Panic+Disorder.">Cognitive Processing of Emotional Information in Panic Disorder.</a> Behav. Res. Ther. 30 (2), 143-149 (1992).</li><li>Mitterschiffthaler, M. T., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Neural+basis+of+the+emotional+Stroop+interference+effect+in+major+depression.">Neural basis of the emotional Stroop interference effect in major depression.</a> Psychol. Med. 38 (2), 247-256 (2008).</li><li>Amir, N., Freshman, M., Foa, E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Enhanced+Stroop+interference+for+threat+in+social+phobia.">Enhanced Stroop interference for threat in social phobia.</a> J.Anxiety Disord. 16 (1), 1-9 (2002).</li><li>Andersson, G., Westoo, J., Johansson, L., Carlbring, P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Cognitive+bias+via+the+Internet:+A+comparison+of+web-based+and+standard+emotional+Stroop+tasks+in+social+phobia.">Cognitive bias via the Internet: A comparison of web-based and standard emotional Stroop tasks in social phobia.</a> Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. 35 (1), 55-62 (2006).</li><li>Paunovic, N., Lundh, L. G., Ost, L. G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Attentional+and+memory+bias+for+emotional+information+in+crime+victims+with+acute+posttraumatic+stress+disorder+(PTSD).">Attentional and memory bias for emotional information in crime victims with acute posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).</a> J.Anxiety Disord. 16 (6), 675-692 (2002).</li><li>Constans, J. I., McCloskey, M. S., Vasterling, J. J., Brailey, K., Mathews, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Suppression+of+attentional+bias+in+PTSD.">Suppression of attentional bias in PTSD.</a> J.Abnorm.Psychol. 113 (2), 315-323 (2004).</li><li>Mama, Y., Ben-Haim, M. S., Algom, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=When+emotion+does+and+does+not+impair+performance:+A+Garner+theory+of+the+emotional+Stroop+effect.">When emotion does and does not impair performance: A Garner theory of the emotional Stroop effect.</a> Cognition.Emotion. 27 (4), 589-602 (2013).</li><li>Mckenna, F. P., Sharma, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Intrusive+Cognitions+-+an+Investigation+of+the+Emotional+Stroop+Task.">Intrusive Cognitions - an Investigation of the Emotional Stroop Task.</a> J.Exp.Psychol.Learn. 21 (6), 1595-1607 (1995).</li><li>Grainger, J., Oregan, J. K., Jacobs, A. M., Segui, J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=On+the+Role+of+Competing+Word+Units+in+Visual+Word+Recognition+-+the+Neighborhood+Frequency+Effect.">On the Role of Competing Word Units in Visual Word Recognition - the Neighborhood Frequency Effect.</a> Percept.Psychophys. 45 (3), 189-195 (1989).</li><li>Balota, D. A., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+English+Lexicon+Project.">The English Lexicon Project.</a> Behav.Res.Methods. 39 (3), 445-459 (2007).</li><li>Larsen, R. J., Mercer, K. A., Balota, D. A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Lexical+characteristics+of+words+used+in+emotional+Stroop+experiments.">Lexical characteristics of words used in emotional Stroop experiments.</a> Emotion. 6 (1), 62-72 (2006).</li><li>McKenna, F. P., Sharma, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Reversing+the+emotional+stroop+effect+reveals+that+it+is+not+what+it+seems:+The+role+of+fast+and+slow+components.">Reversing the emotional stroop effect reveals that it is not what it seems: The role of fast and slow components.</a> J.Exp.Psychol.Learn. 30 (2), 382-392 (2004).</li><li>Frings, C., Englert, J., Wentura, D., Bermeitinger, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Decomposing+the+emotional+Stroop+effect.">Decomposing the emotional Stroop effect.</a> Q.J.Exp.Psychol. 63 (1), 42-49 (2010).</li><li>Eidels, A., Ryan, K., Williams, P., Algom, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Depth+of+Processing+in+the+Stroop+Task+Evidence+From+a+Novel+Forced-Reading+Condition.">Depth of Processing in the Stroop Task Evidence From a Novel Forced-Reading Condition.</a> Exp.Psychol. 61 (5), 385-393 (2014).</li><li>Wegner, D. M. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Ironic+Processes+of+Mental+Control.">Ironic Processes of Mental Control.</a> Psychol.Rev. 101 (1), 34-52 (1994).</li><li>Kendall, P. C., Finch, A. J., Auerbach, S. M., Hooke, J. F., Mikulka, P. J. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=State-Trait+Anxiety+Inventory+-+Systematic+Evaluation.">State-Trait Anxiety Inventory - Systematic Evaluation.</a> J.Consult.Clin.Psychol. 44 (3), 406-412 (1976).</li><li>Dresler, T., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Reliability+of+the+emotional+Stroop+task:+An+investigation+of+patients+with+panic+disorder.">Reliability of the emotional Stroop task: An investigation of patients with panic disorder.</a> J.Psychiatr.Res. 46 (9), 1243-1248 (2012).</li><li>Eide, P., Kemp, A., Silberstein, R. B., Nathan, P. J., Stough, C. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Test-retest+reliability+of+the+emotional+stroop+task:+Examining+the+paradox+of+measurement+change.">Test-retest reliability of the emotional stroop task: Examining the paradox of measurement change.</a> J.Psychol. 136 (5), 514-520 (2002).</li><li>Macleod, C., Mathews, A., Tata, P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Attentional+Bias+in+Emotional+Disorders.">Attentional Bias in Emotional Disorders.</a> J.Abnorm.Psychol. 95 (1), 15-20 (1986).</li></ol>

The ESE comprises a very simple task: The participant names the ink color of singly presented words. This simple task yields results of both pragmatic and theoretical consequence. The ESE documents the fact that people are sensitive to the emotional valence entailed in stimuli although this feature is completely irrelevant to the task at hand.
The ESE has evolved into an immensely popular method for probing emotion and anxiety with both patient and non-patient populations1, 74<...

Modern life is replete with emotion and stress. Who has avoided the emergency room or (witnessing) a traffic accident? In order to perform efficiently under such stressful situations, it is important to preserve one&#39;s composure by focusing on the relevant stimuli. However, research has shown that the emotional valence of the stimulus can affect attention, in particular modulate the speed of processing. In the laboratory, one of the most popular paradigms to study the effect of negative stimuli on performance is the emotional Stroop task. The typical finding is that it takes people longer to name the ink color of emotion words than that of neutral words, the Emotional Stroop Effect (ESE). There are several accounts that attempt to explain the observed slowdown attributing attention3, freezing2, or mood3, however it is still a matter of current debate.
The experimental setup of the emotional Stroop task is well known. Words in color are presented singly for view and the participant&#39;s task is to name the ink color of each word as quickly and accurately as possible. The words come from two categories of different valence. The first category includes negative words (e.g., DEATH) or words related to a specific psychopathology (e.g., GERMS with obsessive-compulsive patients or BATTLE with post-traumatic stress disorder patients). The second category includes neutral words (e.g., CHAIR). The ESE is the difference in color-naming latency between the emotional and the neutral words. The stimuli can be presented in a single block with emotion and neutral words intermixed in a random fashion or in two separate blocks defined by word category. The slowdown with emotion words is usually more pronounced when the ESE is derived in the blocked design4, 5. Therefore, the block design has become the method of choice for researches of the ESE and it is the method applied in this protocol too (see Figure 1 for an illustration of the emotional Stroop experimental setup).
<img alt="Figure 1" src="/files/ftp_upload/53720/53720fig1.jpg" /> 
Figure 1: The Experimental Array in the Emotional Stroop Task: The participant&#39;s task is to name color in which the word appears. <a href="https://www.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/53720/53720fig1large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
It is important to distinguish the ESE from its older namesake, the classic Stroop effect (SE)6. In the classic Stroop task, color words such as RED or GREEN are presented in various ink colors and the participant&#39;s task is to name the ink color of the words. Despite the shared task &#8212; to identify the ink color of words&#160;&#8212; the SE and the ESE differ. Because the words are color words, the stimuli in the classic Stroop task divide into congruent (the word naming its ink color) and incongruent (word and color conflict) categories. The SE is defined as the difference in color naming performance between congruent and incongruent stimuli. Because the quality of congruity does not apply to stimuli in the ESE&#160;&#8212; the word CANCER in blue is neither more nor less congruent than the word LECTURE in brown&#160;&#8212; the SE is not defined in the environment of the ESE. The ESE documents the effect of the emotional valence of the stimuli on performance.
The ESE, just like the SE, has generated voluminous research. In fact, the ESE rivals its namesake in sheer output of experimental studies with both patient and non-patient populations (for a review, see1, 7). The task has been employed with a gamut of pathologies from generalized anxiety (e.g., 8, 9) to trait anxiety (e.g., 10, 11) to obsessive-compulsive disorders (e.g., 12, 13) to depression9, 14 to social phobia15, 16 to post-traumatic stress disorders (e.g., 17, 18). The ESE has also been studied with unselected populations (e.g., 2, 3, 19, 20), although the effects in heathy participants are not always observed and are often less pronounced. At least a portion of ESE&#39;s popularity is attributable to its objective nature as it is not based on self-report and is not intrusive. Furthermore, the emotion words can be selected to tap the specific pathology or current concern of the patient.
Below, we portray the steps required to design and perform an emotional Stroop experiment. Our purpose in this report is to describe in detail an ESE experiment with needed controls. The most important feature of this design is the control it provides against various threats to validity. The main threat treated in this design is that of habituation. Adopting these procedures renders the ESE a valid and reliable means of assessing attention under emotion.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>DirectRT software</td>
			<td>Empirisoft</td>
			<td>http://www.empirisoft.com/directrt.aspx</td>
			<td>Software allows easy programing of a custom experiment in a spreadsheet application (e.g., Excel)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Personal computer</td>
			<td>Any</td>
			<td><a href="https://www.office.com/">https://www.office.com/</a></td>
			<td>&#160;At least 256mb of memory, a graphics card with at least 16mb of video memory and a processor speed of at least 500mhz.&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>A spreadsheet application (e.g., Excel)</td>
			<td>Microsoft</td>
			<td>Any version</td>
			<td>A spreadsheet application capable of editing CSV files</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>SPSS/STATISTICA software</td>
			<td>IBM/Statsoft</td>
			<td>http://www-01.ibm.com/software/analytics/spss/&#160; http://www.statsoft.com/</td>
			<td>Statistical software</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

the emotional stroop task: assessing cognitive performance under exposure to emotional content

The emotional Stroop effect (ESE) is the result of longer naming latencies to ink colors of emotion words than to ink colors of neutral words. The difference shows that people are affected by the emotional content conveyed by the carrier words even though they are irrelevant to the color-naming task at hand. The ESE has been widely deployed with patient populations, as well as with non-selected populations, because the emotion words can be selected to match the tested pathology. The ESE is a powerful tool, yet it is vulnerable to various threats to its validity. This report refers to potential sources of confounding and includes a modal experiment that provides the means to control for them. The most prevalent threat to the validity of existing ESE studies is sustained effects and habituation wrought about by repeated exposure to emotion stimuli. Consequently, the order of exposure to emotion and neutral stimuli is of utmost importance. We show that in the standard design, only one specific order produces the ESE.

When blocks follow the neutral-emotion-neutral sequence (e.g., 3), a large ESE of 34 msec is observed via slower responses in the emotion block (mean of 791 msec) than in the first neutral block (mean of 757 msec; see Figure 2). The same group of participants was also fairly sluggish to name the ink color in the second set of (other) neutral words (mean of 778 msec). The 21 msec difference in performance between the two blocks with neutral items docume...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about The Emotional Stroop Task: Assessing Cognitive Performance under Exposure to Emotional Content at JoVE.com

The Emotional Stroop Task: Assessing Cognitive Performance under Exposure to Emotional Content

The emotional Stroop effect (ESE) is the result of longer naming latencies to ink colors of emotion words than those of neutral words. This report refers to potential sources of confounding and includes a modal experiment that provides the means to control for them.

The emotional Stroop effect (ESE) is the result of longer naming latencies to ink colors of emotion words than to ink colors of neutral words. The ...

The overall goal of this procedure is to evaluate cognitive performance under exposure to emotional content. This method can help answer key questions about cognitive processing, such as how do we perform on a focal task when irrelevant emotional stimuli are present, and particularly, when words match the tested pathology or anxiety of the patient. The main advantage of this technique is that it is objective, not intrusive, and is not based on participant self-reports.At the present moment, this procedure was robustly established only at the group level. In the future, it may possibly extend toward individual patient diagnosis of anxiety disorders. Demonstrating the procedure will be my lab manager, Elia Avikasis.Begin by creating two lists. One of emotional, and the other of neutral words. Use generally emotional words such as hate, or pox, and neutral words that are preferably orthographic neighbors to the emotionally relevant words, such as gate, or box.For each word on the list write its length in characters, as well as its estimated frequency in the appropriate language, in order to match the word lists on lexical factors. Select words for each list by adding pairs that match in length and frequency, and that are orthographic neighbors of one another. If a complete match is not possible, add a pair of words with a small gap in frequency to balance the bias of frequency from the incomplete match.Ensure that each final list contains 20 to 50 words in each word category in order, to have a minimum of 20 trials in a block, thus avoiding repetition of words and thereby, habituation. Begin by selecting one of two designs. Choose a blocked design where the stimuli are presented in separate blocks of trials, defined by word valence if seeking to test global effects at the level of the word category.On the other hand, choose a mixed design where the stimuli are presented in one block with intermixed emotional and neutral words in the same list if seeking to analyze the Emotional Stroop Effect, or ESE, at the individual word level and determine short carryover effects. In the blocked experimental design, select either a counterbalanced or fixed order of blocks. For the counterbalanced order, present the two possible block orders to two different groups of participants.For a fixed order present the neutral block first followed by the emotional block. If desired, present an additional new neutral block following the emotional block in order to examine sustained effects. Finally, to test the effects of fatigue, design an auxiliary experiment, with three blocks of neutral words, and perform on a different set of participants.Begin by sitting the participant down in front of the testing computer. Open the stimulus presentation software that will measure the participant's responses and reaction times. Instruct the participant to respond with a keyboard press.Administer 20 to 40 training trials in order for the participant to master the mapping of the colors onto the keys. Following training instruct the participant to respond to the ink color of the word as quickly and accurately as possible. Avoid mentioning word reading, or that the word should be ignored, as this request may artificially augment reading the words.Finally, present the three experimental blocks which will show each word randomly assigned to a single color, one at a time, at the center of the computer screen. Allow short breaks of 30 to 60 seconds between successive blocks of trials. As an alternative mixed design, present emotional words and neutral words randomly intermixed in a single block.To analyze the reaction time data, adhere to the following parameters:first, only use data from correct responses, and second, exclude extreme responses which are faster or smaller than 2.5 standard deviations around the mean. Use statistical software to perform planned comparisons of data from the fixed presentation order. To do this, choose statistics, advanced linear non-linear models, general linear models, more results, and planed comps.To analyze counter-balanced blocks across participants, perform an ANOVA by selecting statistics, advanced linear non-linear models, and general linear models. Enter block valence as a within-subjects factor, and order of blocks as a between-subject factor. Finally, to test the ESE, compare the reaction times of the emotional block with the first neutral block, for sustained effects, compare the second neutral block with the first neutral block.When blocks follow the neutral-emotion-neutral sequence as shown here, a large ESE of 34 milliseconds is observed via slower responses in the emotion block than in the first neutral block. Furthermore, the 21 milliseconds'difference in performance between the two blocks with neutral items, indicates the presence of a sustained effect. In order to verify that there was no flagging of attention, or fatigue an auxiliary experiment, using only three blocks of neutral items was performed with a different group of participants.Here, no significant differences in performance across the successive blocks indicate that the effect of fatigue was minimal. Furthermore, when there are only two blocks of trials, an ESE is only expected to emerge when participants are given the neutral block first. No ESE is present when the emotion block is given first, due to sustained effects.While preparing for this procedure, it's important to remember to avoid repetition of words as much as possible, in order to avoid habituation. Following this procedure other paradigms, like the dot-probe, can be performed in order to answer additional questions. Like testing attentional bias and cognitive performance in the context of emotional stimuli.After watching this video you should have a good understanding of how to design and perform an Emotional Stroop Experiment that highlights the interference effect of emotional content.

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Combined Invasive Subcortical and Non-invasive Surface Neurophysiological Recordings for the Assessment of Cognitive and Emotional Functions in Humans

In spite of the success in applying non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG), magneto-encephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging ...

Conscious and Non-conscious Representations of Emotional Faces in Asperger's Syndrome

Several neuroimaging studies have suggested that the low spatial frequency content in an emotional face mainly activates the amygdala, pulvinar, and ...

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory

The Deese-Roediger-McDermott DRM Task: A Simple Cognitive Paradigm to Investigate False Memories in the Laboratory

The Deese,&#160;Roediger and McDermott&#160;(DRM) task is a false memory paradigm in which subjects are presented with lists of semantically related words ...

Central and Divided Visual Field Presentation of Emotional Images to Measure Hemispheric Differences in Motivated Attention

Two dominant theories on lateralized processing of emotional information exist in the literature. One theory posits that unpleasant emotions are processed ...

The Knob Supination Task: A Semi-automated Method for Assessing Forelimb Function in Rats

Tasks that accurately measure dexterity in animal models are critical to understand hand function. Current rat behavioral tasks that measure dexterity ...

The "Motor" in Implicit Motor Sequence Learning: A Foot-stepping Serial Reaction Time Task

This protocol describes a modified serial reaction time (SRT) task used to study implicit motor sequence learning. Unlike the classic SRT task that ...