Training and Stroop-like interference: Evidence for a continuum of automaticity.

Three experiments varied the extent of practice in an analog of the Stroop color-word task. The experiments involved 4 phases: baseline naming of 4 familiar colors; training in consistently naming 4 novel shapes by using the names of the same 4 colors; naming the colors when they appeared in the form of the shapes; and naming the shapes when they appeared in color. In Exp 1, with up to 2 hr of training in shape naming, colors were named much faster than shapes. Interference was observed only in Phase 4. In Exp 2 (5 hr of training) shape naming sped up, but was still slower than color naming. There was symmetrical interference in Phases 3 and 4 that persisted 3 mo without further training. Exp 3 extended practice to 20 hr, by which time shape and color naming were equally rapid. After 20 hr, interference appeared only in Phase 3, reversing the original asymmetry. The overall pattern is inconsistent with a simple speed of processing account of interference. Implications of the alternative idea of a continuum of automaticity—a direct consequence of training—are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)