What is a good score on the Stroop test?

There is no pass mark here. The interesting part is the gap in time between matching and mismatched rounds. Compare your own results over several tries rather than against other people.

Why am I slower when the word and the color don’t match?

Reading is so automatic for adults that the meaning of the word pops up before you can stop it. To name the ink color you have to set that meaning aside, and that takes a moment. That moment is the Stroop effect.

Can this test tell me something about my health?

No. This is a short practice exercise for fun and attention training. Clinical versions of the Stroop task are run by professionals under controlled conditions. If you are worried about your memory or attention, talk to a doctor.

Does practice make me faster?

Often, at this particular task, simply because it becomes familiar. Treat a better time as a sign you have learned this game, not as a measure of anything bigger.

Are my answers saved anywhere?

No. The test runs entirely in your browser. Your answers and times are not sent to us or stored after you leave the page.

Stroop Test

Name the color of the letters, not the word. It sounds easy until the word says one color and the ink shows another.

22 short rounds · under a minute

A color word will appear. Tap the color of the letters, not the word you read.

The first 2 rounds are practice. After that, in some rounds the word and color match and in others they don’t, in random order. On a keyboard you can press 1, 2 or 3.

How to take the test

Press Start the test. A color word appears in the middle of the card.
Look at the color of the letters and tap that color below. Ignore what the word says.
The first 2 rounds are practice. Then come 20 rounds: in half of them the word and the ink match, in the other half they don’t, in random order.
Go quickly but carefully. After the last round you see how many you got right and how long you took.

On a computer you can answer with the 1, 2 and 3 keys instead of the mouse. Each answer is timed from the moment the word appears.

What is the Stroop effect?

When the word GREEN is printed in green, naming the color is easy. When the word BLUE is printed in red, most people hesitate for a split second, and some say “blue” by mistake. That slowdown is called the Stroop effect.

It is named after the American psychologist John Ridley Stroop, who reported it in 1935 in a paper called “Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions”. His participants named ink colors much more slowly when the colors were printed as conflicting color words than when they were shown as plain colored patches.

The reason is that reading is a deeply practiced habit. You do not decide to read a word on a sign, it simply happens. Naming a color is less automatic. In a mismatched round the two processes compete, and your attention has to hold back the faster one, the word, so the slower one, the color, can win.

How to read your result

Your result shows four numbers:

Correct answers in the 20 scored rounds. Practice rounds don’t count.
Typical time in matching rounds, where word and ink agree.
Typical time in mismatched rounds, where they conflict.
Difference: how much longer mismatched rounds took.

“Typical time” is the median of your correct answers, so one slow tap doesn’t spoil the result. A positive difference is what you would expect: the word got in the way. The size of the gap changes from try to try, with how rested you are and with the device you use. A touch screen, a slow phone or a sticky mouse all add time. Because this test is short, treat the numbers as a rough picture of one attempt.

The most useful comparison is with yourself. Try the test on different days or at different times of day and see how your own numbers move.

Why people use Stroop tasks

Since 1935 the Stroop task has become one of the best known experiments in psychology. Researchers use versions of it to study attention and how people resist distraction. It is also a popular classroom demonstration, because you can feel the effect within a few seconds.

For everyday life it is simply a good attention exercise. It asks you to focus on one thing and ignore another that shouts louder, which is a skill you use when you read with the TV on or follow one voice in a noisy room.

Tips for a fair attempt

Use the same device each time if you want to compare results.
Sit where you can see the colors clearly, without glare on the screen.
Keep your finger or cursor in a comfortable spot so you don’t lose time reaching.
If you have trouble telling some colors apart, the results won’t mean much. That is normal and not a problem with you.

Like this kind of game?

Brain Games for iPhone has a Stroop game plus four more short games for memory, attention and mental math.

The app is free to download. Playing the games requires a subscription, and the price is shown in the app before you subscribe.

View on the App Store

Questions

What is a good score on the Stroop test?: There is no pass mark here. The interesting part is the gap in time between matching and mismatched rounds. Compare your own results over several tries rather than against other people.
Why am I slower when the word and the color don’t match?: Reading is so automatic for adults that the meaning of the word pops up before you can stop it. To name the ink color you have to set that meaning aside, and that takes a moment. That moment is the Stroop effect.
Can this test tell me something about my health?: No. This is a short practice exercise for fun and attention training. Clinical versions of the Stroop task are run by professionals under controlled conditions. If you are worried about your memory or attention, talk to a doctor.
Does practice make me faster?: Often, at this particular task, simply because it becomes familiar. Treat a better time as a sign you have learned this game, not as a measure of anything bigger.
Are my answers saved anywhere?: No. The test runs entirely in your browser. Your answers and times are not sent to us or stored after you leave the page.