One-tailed Research Hypothesis:
The automatic process of reading words interferes with color naming, thus slows down the color naming process in the task involving color names that conflict with the ink filled in the names.
Null hypothesis:
There is little to no real significant difference between the time of reading the list of words with just words or colours and the time of reading the colours in the list of colour names that conflict with the ink filled in the names.
Method
Design
The repeated sample design was used in this experiment. Repeated measure is used because it is easier to compare the times of the different lists of words of one single subject without having to worry about time differences between different individuals. Although the order effect is a major concern for this design, this should not be significant as we are measuring the participants’ speed difference between reading the colors only and reading the colors printed in other color ink. If interference occurs naturally, familiarity with the color and words may not improve the participant results dramatically. Furthermore, we would compare the percentage difference between the reading speed, thus order effect should not have much effect on our results.
The participants would be exposed to two stimuli as the name of a color was printed in the ink of another color: a word stimulus and a color stimulus. The independent variable was a list of names of colors printed in different color ink. The interference would be measured by comparing the speed for the participant to read the list of words.
First the participant would be presented with a list of words with names of colors in black ink, the time for him to read it would be recorded. Afterwards the participant would be given a list of squares in different colors, this time the participant would have to read the colors out. Lastly, the participant would be given the list of names of colors printed in different color ink. The participant would be required to read out the color ink the word was printed in. This time would be recorded and compared to the previous two results.
The participants would be asked to sign a form of consent to indicate they were participating voluntarily; however, they might still withdraw if they felt discomfort and distress during the experiment. Briefing and debriefing sheets would be given to them to read before they signed the participation sheet. This experiment intended to cause no psychological damage to the participants.
Participants:
The test subjects were selected from Shanghai American School and all the participants are from Grade 12. Samples are selected by picking three separate classes. The classes are picked by opportunity sampling, as samples that are convenience to use are picked. These classes consist of IB Chinese A2 Y1, IB Economics, and IB TOK class.
Materials
- Standardized Instructions
- Debriefing sheets.
- Participation signature and consent form
- One list of name of colours in black ink
- One list of patches of colours
- One list of name of colours different from the ink it’s filled in
- Stop watch
- Record sheet
Procedure
- Read scripted instructions to participants (Appendix i)
- Have one experimenter hold up the word list in front of the participant and another experimenter start recording time spent by the participant reading the words off the list (see Appendix ii)
- Stop recording the time as soon as participants finishes reading all the words on the list
- Hold up the second sheet (patches of colors) in front of the participant and record the time spent by the participant naming the squares of colour.
- Hold up the third sheet (the sheet with color names that are different from the ink they are filled with) and record the time spent by the participants reading the words.
Results:
Table 1. The recorded time for the test subjects reading different lists.
Note: List 1 is the list with words only, List 2 is the list with patches of colors, List 3 is the list with words filled in ink that conflict the words
Descriptive Data:
Discussion:
The hypothesis is tested to be correct in this situation as in every single subject, the time taken to read the third-list is longer than the time taken to read the first list. This is also represented by graph 1. Yellow line, which represents the time taken to read the third list, is higher than the first or second list. This suggests that the automatic process of reading words interferes with color naming, thus slows down the color naming process in the task involving color names that conflict with the ink filled in the names.
The reason for this result is that color naming, compared to word reading is a controlled process. Thus, when two are presented together, the words interfere with the reading of the colors. If the participant was asked to read the color, neglecting the conflicting words, it takes longer than reading either alone as the result of interference.
The result of this experiment is similar to that of the above experiments. The third list, containing both words and colors, make it longer to read.
The strength of this experiment is that the results can be recorded easily. Quantitative data can be recorded down and is thus more objective than qualitative observations. All of the subjects are presented with the same information and participant variation can be eliminated. The same instructions are also read to the participants.
The limitation of this experiment is that sometimes the paper was held in different positions and some of the subjects could not see clearly. Another limitation is that some of the participants mistook the way to read the words. Some participants read the words from top to bottom instead of left to right. Another problem is that time stopper is used manually and thus there are inaccuracies if the button to start and end the timer is not pressed on time. Last but not least, is the problem of the color patches. Some of the colors were close and thus harder to define. Many subjects mixed up the color purple and blue.
If this experiment was to be conducted again, the color patches selected should be in contrast and not similar. The instructions presented should also be clearer so subjects do not get confused of which way to read the words or colors. Time stopper should also be pressed in correspondence to when the lists were flipped.
