Post date: Feb 24, 2012 7:06:53 AM
Abstract: Non-verbal tasks not only allow us to minimize the role of language on assessment but they also help provide unique insights into psychological phenomenon. For instance, previous developmental research using the color-word Stroop task has shown an S-shaped function with Stroop interference increasing until approximately third grade at which point interference levels off before increasing again in old age. Presumably, the early changes in interference are at least partly due to reading level while the later changes are due to aging. However, developmental research using a non-verbal Stroop task shows a similar pattern. Therefore, the changes in Stroop interference found in previous research may have less to do with learning to read and reading level and more to do with the development attentional processing.
Nonverbal Stroop Tasks was presented in a symposium on Innovations in Nonverbal Cognitive and Neuropsychological Assessment with Gale Roid, Jamie Martin, and Carla Mazefsky. A pdf copy of the slides from that presentation can be found below along with a Flash version of the presentation. The symposium handout is also available below.