Assessing Cognitive Interference Using the Emotional Stroop Task in Students with and Without Attention Problems

Abstract

The present study describes the Emotional Stroop Task as a means to assess cognitive interference triggered by emotional stimuli in elementary school students with and without attention problems. Using the Emotional Stroop Task in a computerized environment and employing samples of students with and without attention problems (111 without and 29 with attention problems), results indicated that prolonged latencies to stimuli with heavy emotional content related to their school experiences were predictive of students’ membership, after controlling for their gender and grade levels. These effects were independent of students’ processing ability as indicated by the lack of significant differences in reaction time to neutral stimuli. It is concluded that the Emotional Stroop Task can be used to assess cognitive interference in emotionally charged conditions across groups of students.