Here are a list of questions to help you interpret our findings

• In terms of reaction time, in which conditions did the volunteers do the best and worst? Why do you think this is? [1]

• In terms of accuracy, in which conditions did the volunteer do the best and worst? Why do you think this is? [2]

• Were there any changes in heart rate in the four conditions? if yes, how did these changes come about? [3]

• Did peripheral skin temperature change? If yes, what mechanism is involved in this? What role does it play? [4]

• Do these results support our hypothesis of the Stroop test being a “stressor”? Why? [5]

• Can you identify limitations to our study? What would you do differently if you were to repeat this experiment? [6]

Possible answers:

[1] Normally reading in monochrome has the shortest reaction time followed by word reading, rectangles, and lastly colour naming. The increased reaction time in color naming is due to Stroop interference, where the volunteers receive conflicting information and have to override their automated processes (that is, reading the word).

[2] Normally, the monochrome or word condition has the least (if any) amount of errors as the volunteer doesn’t have to register conflicting information. The colour naming condition generally has more errors than any other condition, due to Stroop interference.

[3] Heart rate may increase in the more difficult tasks, as the autonomic nervous system is influenced by cognitively challenging tasks.

Some of the changes seen could be attributed to the actual stress of the situation rather than the cognitive stress itself. For example, people watching you read (known as the Hawthorne effect).

[4] You may have seen a slight decrease in finger temperature throughout the trials. If so, this was likely caused by peripheral vasoconstriction due to increased sympathetic nervous system arousal during the cognitive stress.

As in the previous question, some of the changes seen could be attributed to the actual stress of the situation rather than the cognitive stress itself.

[5] This is largely determined by todays’ results. We might have seen an increase in the physiological measures reflecting an activation of the stress responses or we  might have not. Many factors may impair our findings.

[6]Limitations can include the following:

The length of the test (time). Most research has used this test for longer periods. For example, 12 minutes in some cases; doing the same test 3 times; varying the amount of time between tests.

Increasing the number of words to read/ colours to name. These were reduced today to 50 but are usually double.

The accuracy in selecting data in the recordings.

The positioning of the sensors and the quality of the recording.

The diversity (or lack of) in the volunteer’s cohort.