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Automaticity in reading and the Stroop
task: Testing the limits of involuntary
word processing
TRACY L. BROWN,
KELLY JONELEIT, and CATHY S. ROBINSON
University of North Carolina at Asheville
CARLI ROSE BROWN
University of Nebraska at Lincoln
We investigated the parameters of involuntary word reading in the Stroop task
in 7 experiments. Experiments 14 varied response modality and the presence
of congruent word trials in a test of the claim that presenting a Stroop color word
with only one letter in the target color eliminates the Stroop effect. Experiments
5 and 6 addressed the roles of spatial attention and orthographic processing as
possible mechanisms behind the reduction of Stroop effects with the single-letter
format. Experiment 7 investigated the limits of involuntary reading under
optimal conditions for selective processing of rectangular color patch targets.
We found that the single-letter format reduced but never eliminated Stroop effects,
spatial attention but not orthographic processing plays a role in the effect
of the single-letter format, and word reading is not completely prevented
even with austere presentation conditions. We conclude with a defense of the
involuntariness criterion for automaticity in the Stroop task, particularly when
word reading is viewed in the context of a skilled performance.
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