What happens when your brain gets two conflicting pieces of information at the same time? In this episode from our Science World Resources series, Ross and Eugene challenge you to the Stroop test.
Our experiences in the past help us look for patterns and make assumptions in the present. This demonstration is known as the Stroop Effect, named after its discoverer, J. Ridley Stroop. Your natural tendency is to read words, not report the colour of the ink in which the word is written, which is why it's difficult for you to say the colour instead of the word itself. Even if the Stroop words were upside down, the brain would still recognize the shapes as letters and group them together as words to read.