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Effect of Bilingualism on Stroop Interference

Booth Id:
BEHA022

Category:
Behavioral and Social Sciences

Year:
2019

Finalist Names:
Neidhard, Cameron (School: Carroll High School)

Abstract:
The purpose of this project was to determine if English-Spanish bilinguals have more Stroop Interference than English monolinguals. This is important because little research has been done on bilingual Stroop Interference; only one study was conducted dating back to 1986. There has been no available research conducted about bilingual Stroop Interference specifically within the Latin Alphabet. The hypothesis, designed to mirror the study of Chen & Ho, is that there is more interference within bilinguals than in monolinguals. Subjects were given a timed Stroop task to complete, and their lingual status was noted. The results indicated that there was significantly more interference among bilinguals. Furthermore, both histograms (one of bilinguals and one of monolinguals) were uni-modal and symmetric, and resembled the Normal model. Scatter-plots comparing English and Spanish times (one for bilinguals and one for monolinguals) were also created; regression lines were also made, with no problems spotted in the residual plots. It was concluded that being bilingual does have a large effect on Stroop Interference. Furthermore, it was also concluded that one can use a Stroop Test to determine if someone is bilingual or not with large confidence.

Awards Won:
American Psychological Association: Third Award of $500