Stroop test examples you can try with a pen or in a browser

September 26, 2026 · 6 min read · Tyamka team

Worked Stroop test examples, from the classic color words to numbers, pictures and direction words, and what changes when you read in a second language.

The quickest Stroop test example is a color word printed in the wrong ink, such as RED printed in blue. The right answer is blue. Say the ink of each word below out loud, not the word, and you will feel the delay on the rows where they clash. The tables here are plain text, so the ink of each word is written in its own column. For the real thing with colored ink, play the Stroop test online. The idea behind all these examples is explained in the Stroop effect explained.

Example 1, the classic color words

This follows the task John Ridley Stroop used in 1935, with our four inks instead of his five. His conflict cards had only mismatched words, and we added matching ones for contrast.

Rows 2 and 5 are congruent, the word and the ink agree. The others are incongruent. If you want to try it on paper, write the six words with colored markers on a sheet of dark paper, or swap white for green on white paper, three or four times over in mixed order, and time yourself naming the inks. Then write a row of XXXX in each color and time that too. The difference between the two times is your rough Stroop interference for that sheet on that day.

Example 2, neutral words

Swap the color words for ordinary words.

This is clearly easier than conflicting color words, and in George Klein's 1964 study it was a little harder than XXXX, though later studies have not always found that difference. Words that are linked to a color, such as SKY or GRASS or LEMON, fall between neutral words and color words. The closer a word is to the set of possible answers, the more it gets in the way. Psychologists call this a semantic gradient.

Example 3, the reverse task

Now read the word and ignore the ink.

This usually feels much easier. In Stroop's first experiment the conflicting ink slowed reading only slightly, and the difference was not reliable. The interference runs mostly one way.

Example 4, numbers

Count the digits in each group and say how many there are.

Here the digit itself is the distractor, because its value comes to mind even though you only need to count. A version of this, the counting Stroop, has been used in brain imaging studies with words instead of digits. A close relative asks which of two digits is printed bigger. When the smaller number gets the larger font, people slow down, because the numerical value interferes even when only the size matters. Avishai Henik and Joseph Tzelgov showed this in 1982.

Example 5, direction words and arrows

Say where each word sits on the page, not what it says.

This spatial version works on the same principle. Our game Arrow Rule uses arrows and a same or opposite rule, and on its later levels an arrow can sit off center to pull you toward the wrong side. The details are in the flanker task and the arrow Stroop.

Example 6, pictures with words

Name the picture and ignore the word written on it, for example a drawing of a dog with the word CAT across it. People name the picture more slowly than a plain drawing. This picture-word version is widely used to study how we choose words when we speak.

Example 7, switching between reading and naming

Mix examples 1 and 3. A sign above each word tells you what to do, READ for the word and NAME for the ink.

Now reading tends to slow down too, because you never know which task comes next and have to check the sign first. Researchers use this kind of cue to study task switching. Our Stroop game does not have a switch rule. Every word asks for the ink.

What changes in a second language

The Stroop effect exists because you read the word without trying. That makes it sensitive to the language you read in.

• A script you cannot read barely interferes. If you do not read Cyrillic, the Ukrainian word ЧЕРВОНИЙ printed in blue is just a set of shapes and slows you down about as much as XXXX. For a Ukrainian reader it is a full conflicting word.
• Words in your other language still interfere, often less. Since Malcolm Preston and Wallace Lambert's study of bilinguals in 1969, many experiments have found that color words in the language you are not answering in still slow you down, often less than words in the same language, though sometimes about as much. The size depends on how fluently you read each language and on how similar the words look, so the result differs from person to person.
• Your stronger reading language tends to pull harder. Someone who reads Ukrainian every day and English rarely will usually feel more pull from Ukrainian words, even when answering in English. This is a general finding across studies, not a rule for every person.

Below is a mixed example for someone who reads both English and Ukrainian. Answer in English.

If you read both languages well, the Cyrillic words will still get in the way. If you do not read Ukrainian, the first, third and fourth rows will feel close to neutral.

Tyamka runs in English and Ukrainian, and the Stroop game shows the color words in the language you play in. Open the English game and the Ukrainian one in turn, and you can compare how each language feels for you. We have not measured this on players. Treat it as a personal experiment, not a result.

How to read your own examples

A paper test gives you a feel for the effect, not a score to compare with anyone. Timing a sheet with a phone stopwatch adds errors of its own, and your time changes with practice, rest and time of day. Use the examples to see the effect, then use the game to follow your own best on the same level. What a Stroop result can and cannot say about a person is covered in what the Stroop test measures.

For colored ink, play the Stroop test, or pick another game from all games.