Stroop Effect induced by Semantics in Chinese Idioms with Color Words

Abstract

We explored the role of a color word and color meaning in an idiom played in the Stroop effect. With a print color-naming task, our results revealed that the color word played an important role in the Stroop effect. A color word could induce a strong Stroop effect no matter with or without color meaning in an idiom. In the congruent condition, an idiom with both a color word and color meaning could be processed faster than the one without a color word in a congruent condition. While in an incongruent condition, with both a color word and color meaning, the processing of the print color was delayed in comparison with the idiom with only the color meaning. In our control experiment, we applied three conditions with a key press task to dissociate the semantic competition and response competition effects in the Stroop task. The processing of stimulus-stimulus compatible trials for idioms with a color word was faster than the stimulus-stimulus incompatible trials for idioms with a color word. This indicates that semantics play a role in target processing.