#stroop effect

Ever tried this? This is basically called the stroop effect in psychology. There are some skills which are involuntary to us, for instance, reading. If you know English, it’d take you some time to say the color while ignoring the text. On the other hand, if you don’t know the language, you’ll be able to say the colors quickly. This method is often used to detect spies. 

Name the colors, don’t read the words.

so what does this tell me? i can’t find any data about being quicker with incongruent colors/words instead of the opposite. what does it mean?

In psychology, the Stroop effect is a demonstration of interference in the reaction time of a task. When the name of a color (e.g., "blue", "green", or "red") is printed in a color that is not denoted by the name (e.g., the word "red" printed in blue ink instead of red ink), naming the color of the word takes longer and is more prone to errors than when the color of the ink matches the name of the color. The effect has been used to create a psychological test (Stroop test) that is widely used in clinical practice and investigation.

- Jamie