Cameron Johanning

Mr. Jensen

IB Biology HL II

9 January 2012

Planning (a)

Question - How is the time for a person to perform an accurate Stroop Test affected by auditory
and sensory distractions?

The purpose of this experiment is to deduce the ability of persons to perform a

task involving transmission of visual information to the brain, initiating the
second task of correctly naming the color of the word in three situations.
One situation has no distractions, the second one involves playing music in the
test subjects ears at a high volume, and the third situation involves poking the
subject with the point of a mechanical pencil behind the ears, on the side of the
neck, and on the fingertips. These spots were chosen for their relatively high
sensitivity

Hypothesis The test subjects will perform worse in situations of sensory and auditory
distraction.

It is difficult to perform any task, especially a mentally demanding one such as

the Stroop Test, in the presence of things that one would normally give their full
attention to.

Variables Units Range

Independent Variable , sensory, auditory Present or not Present or not
distraction present present for each
distraction, no more
than one take place
at the same time
Dependent Variables Time taken to Minutes: Seconds 0 5 minutes
perform an accurate
Stroop Test
Controlled Variables Units Possible effect(s) on Method for Control
results
Noise levels Hz Presents another Placed a single desk for
distraction to possibly the subject to sit in in a
allow the subject to corner in a hallway.
become accustom to Tests were not
auditory distraction and conducted during
to perform better passing periods. The
location was
appropriately noise-free
for the duration of the
tests
Volume of Auditory Hz Changes the level of The volume level was
Distraction distraction for each set at 85% on the iPod
subject, allowing some Touch 4th generation
to overcome the and was not adjusted
distraction easier, while until after every subject
others may perform had performed their
worse test with an auditory
distraction
Intensity of Poking in N If one subject is Kari Scheonike, the
Sensory Distraction exposed to more force other investigator,
in each poke, he/she poked at various levels
would become more making sure to use one
distracted than forceful poke on each
somebody who was poking site, and one
hardly touched. This gentle poke. This is a
would in turn affect relatively difficult task
how long it would take to perform and the
to perform the test precise Newtons of
each forceful and gentle
poke could not be
accurately measured
given the available
equipment.
The colors of each word Frequency and If the tests are too The subject is told to
in the stroop test distribution similar, the test subject convey the color of the
would recognize font, not the color that
patterns that they had the letters spell out. For
previously seen and example orange would
thus perform each be conveyed as blue.
successive test more Each test had the same
accurately. Higher words on it, but they
accuracy the first time were colored
reduces the overall time differently.
taken to perform each
test
Planning (b)

Protocol Diagram

Photograph of Lab Setup

Procedure

Stroop Test 3 tests, same words different colors

1: control Just test no distractions

2: Auditory same song, loud volume, unfamiliar

3: sensory random poking delivered to side of the neck, back of ear, and finger tips

To address this question, we employed the Stroop Test. This test involves

Age Gender Stroop Test Stroop Test w/Auditory Stroop Test w/Sensory Distraction
Distraction
18 M 1:42 1:47 2:13
17 F 1:59 2:31 2:25
18 M 1:20 1:28 1:28
17 F 2:04 2:09 2:25
18 F 1:48 2:02 2:05
17 M 1:40 2:41 3:23
17 F 1:29 1:45 1:49
18 M 1:31 1:47 2:19

According to Apples website, the volume of the music, as played through the stock apple ipod
headphones at 85% is approximately 94dB.