Alternative to the Stroop Color-Word Test for illiterate individuals.

An alternative to the Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT), denominated the Colored Numbers Test (CNT), was developed to evaluate the selective attention of illiterate individuals. A total of 30 volunteers with basic education (control group) and 30 illiterate volunteers (experimental group) performed the SCWT and the CNT. Volunteers had to name the color of the rectangles in the CNT neutral condition, and in the critical condition they had to either name the color of the numbers or, when the numbers were black, read the numbers. An interference index (II) was calculated for both tests by subtracting the time taken to complete the task in the neutral condition from the time taken to complete the task in the critical condition. The control group showed an II of 14.9 s in the SCWT and of 19.1 s in the CNT, and the experimental group, which practically presented no interference in the SCWT (II = 0.2 s), showed an II of 18.7 s in the CNT. These findings suggest that the CNT can be used to evaluate selective attention. Further work should confirm its validity. Its advantage over the SCWT is that it does not depend on the ability to read words, being then suitable for illiterate individuals.