What does the Stroop inference actually measure, and when and how? Methodological and theoretical arguments in favor of a change in its measurement

This paper highlights the fact that numerous current implementations of what is commonly referred to as the Stroop task in both psychological research and practice are based on methodological and theoretical assumptions that are now outdated. Consequently, the Stroop interference brought about by these implementations is (a) often overestimated, and (b) does not allow the direct measurement of its qualitatively different components. We first set out several theoretical and methodological arguments supporting the above claims, and we then recommend the use of the so-called semantic Stroop task (Augustinova & Ferrand, 2014b; Neely & Kahan, 2001) in order to overcome the problems we have detailed. We suggest that the semantic Stroop task is particularly simple to implement in the laboratory as well as in the field and therefore places this much-needed change in practice within anyone’s reach.