Abstract
Previous studies of the modified Stroop Color-Naming Task with social phobics have demonstrated increased latencies for the color-naming of social threat words in comparison to neutral or physical threat words. However, these effects could be partially due to differences in the semantic relatedness of the words in these various categories and/or the blocked format (i.e., all words of one type presented sequentially) in which words have been presented. To examine these issues, color-naming latencies of individuals with social phobia to social threat, semantically related neutral, and unrelated neutral words were examined in both blocked and randomly intermixed formats. Significant differences in color-naming were found for word stimuli presented in the blocked format only. In the blocked format, social phobics were significantly slower to color-name social threat words than related neutral words and significantly slower to color-name related neutral words than unrelated neutral words. Color-naming latencies also increased across trials regardless of word type. There were no effects of word type in the random format. Thus, both presentation format and semantic priming, as well as threat value, may have contributed to color-naming interference for the social threat words. Possible interpretations of our findings along with implications for future Stroop research in persons with social phobia are discussed.
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Holle, C., Neely, J.H. & Heimberg, R.G. The Effects of Blocked Versus Random Presentation and Semantic Relatedness of Stimulus Words on Response to a Modified Stroop Task Among Social Phobics. Cognitive Therapy and Research 21, 681–697 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021860324879
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021860324879