Stroop versus stroop: Comparison of a card format and a single-trial format of the standard color-word stroop task and the emotional stroop task

The card format and the single-trial format of the Stroop task are used alternately for the same purposes in general cognitive studies and in emotion studies. However, no convergent validity or test-retest reliability has ever been shown. In the present study, a card format and a single-trial format of a standard color-word Stroop and an emotional Stroop (i.e. spider words) were administered to a normal sample and re-administered after 3 months. Neither for the standard Stroop effect, nor the emotional Stroop effect, was there convergence between the two formats. The test-retest reliability of the standard Stroop effects of both formats was low but significant and the test-retest reliability of the emotional Stroop effects was very low. The results suggest that the two formats measure different underlying mechanisms and that both mechanisms are unstable. It is concluded that the application of cognitive paradigms within emotional research is of value if combined with the appropriate psychometric research. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.