Stroop/reverse-Stroop interference in typical development and its relation to symptoms of ADHD.
In typical kids, Stroop interference dips with age and quietly signals ADHD risk, giving you a 90-second table-top screen.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Ikeda et al. (2013) gave two quick color-word tests to kids without diagnoses.
In the Stroop test, kids name the ink color when the word spells a different color.
In the reverse-Stroop test, kids read the word when the ink color clashes.
What they found
Older kids made fewer mistakes on the regular Stroop test.
On the reverse-Stroop, mistakes went up as kids got older.
Parents who rated higher ADHD symptoms had kids who showed more Stroop interference, not reverse-Stroop.
How this fits with other research
Eussen et al. (2016) extends this picture. They showed kids with ADHD symptoms also struggle in math when they must update working memory. Both studies point to the same weak spot: quickly swapping out old info for new.
Smith et al. (2021) adds another layer. They found fine motor and IQ scores are more tightly linked in kids with ADHD than in typical peers. Together these papers show ADHD symptoms tag-team both motor and inhibitory skills.
Samyn et al. (2015) sounds a warning. They proved parent questionnaires and lab EF tasks measure different things. So a high Stroop score should not be the only data point you trust when flagging ADHD traits.
Why it matters
You can run the classic Stroop in under two minutes during intake. If a typical child stumbles more than same-age peers, it is a cheap red flag for attention issues. Pair that with a quick parent rating scale, not instead of it, and you have a low-cost screen before you refer for full evaluation.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study examined prepotent response inhibition among 376 children and young adults divided into five age groups: 23 5-6-year-olds, 80 7-8-year-olds, 72 9-10-year-olds, 98 11-12-year-olds, and 70 young adults (19-24-year-olds). The Stroop/reverse-Stroop test was administered with a manual response. This test measured Stroop interference, which occurred when naming the ink color of the incongruent color word stimuli (for instance the word red printed in blue ink), and the reverse-Stroop interference, which occurred when reading the stimuli. This study also examined the relation between performance on the Stroop/reverse-Stroop test and scores on the ADHD Rating Scale-IV. Results indicated that the Stroop interference decreased with age, whereas the reverse-Stroop interference increased with age. Results also showed that all three scores in the ADHD Rating Scale-IV, two subscale scores of inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms and a total score, correlated with the Stroop interference, but not with the reverse-Stroop interference in typically developing children. These results indicated the difference in mechanism between the Stroop interference and the reverse-Stoop interference, and suggested that the Stroop interference is strongly correlated with ADHD symptoms in typically developing children.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.04.019