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Beyond Standard Lectures
high false recognition rate for the “false memory lure.” Once we present the results, a
fruitful discussion can ensue in which students think critically about the mechanisms
responsible for the results and what this demonstration reveals about an important
principle related to the accuracy of episodic memory.
The Stroop (1935) effect is a simple and very robust demonstration of processing
automaticity. Lists of color words are either presented in a matching condition with the
ink color identical to the color name (e.g., black printed in black ink) or in a mismatch
condition with a different ink color than the color name (e.g., red printed in black). In
Wadsworth’s online version, students must categorize the print color of words as quickly
as possible. In class, the instructor can present words in various ways and students can be
asked to respond aloud together. A very effective approach is to have one person volunteer
to be the test participant who reads aloud, have another serve as timer, and have everyone
else perform the same task as the volunteer participant but do so silently. Students find the
matching condition very easy but will experience considerable interference in the mis-
match condition and slow down their response rate as well as make mistakes. We present
the Stroop paradigm in the same manner as the DRM: Students make predictions, we
reveal the results, and then we discuss and interpret the results.
The Stroop (1935) effect allows students to think about the differences between highly
skilled automatic processing situations and slower, more effortful controlled processing
situations. In addition, this activity can prompt discussion about when and how a control-
led process becomes automatic. For example, if you do the Stroop task in the mismatch
condition several times, will it become easier? What if a person who did not know English
as well as the typical college students tried the Stroop task? What would happen in that
condition? What about children who are learning to read? This type of discussion allows
for introduction of ideas relating to the effects of individual differences, learning, and
practice—thus going beyond a simple discussion of the distinction between automatic
and controlled processes.
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Figure 16.1. Data from the False Memory Wadsworth CogLab. Wadsworth CogLab 2.0 Cognitive
Psychology Online Laboratory Web site. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2007, from http://coglab.
wadsworth.com/