Age-related decrements in stroop color test performance

Administered a modified Stroop Color‐Word Test to 80 healthy males aged 21‐90 years as part of a study of neuropsychological functioning. No age differences were demonstrated on simple reading tasks; however, significant age effects were observed for the color naming and interference tasks (ps < 001). Ss in the oldest age groups (61‐70 and 71‐90 years) performed more slowly than younger individuals on both of these. Of a variety of tests administered, performance on the Stroop Test was most affected by age. Because impairment on Stroop color naming and interference tests appears to be a concomitant of normal aging, caution should be exercised when one is interpreting Stroop test results from older patients with suspected cerebral dysfunction.