The Stroop effect demonstrates people’s inability to ignore the __________ of words.

• A. color
• B. size
• C. meaning
• D. location

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand the Stroop effect: it is a psychological phenomenon that illustrates the difficulty people have in overriding automatic processes, such as reading, when performing a task that requires selective attention.
2. Identify the key aspect of the Stroop task: participants are asked to name the color of the ink in which a word is printed, while ignoring the word itself.
3. Recognize that the interference occurs because the meaning of the word (e.g., the word 'red' printed in blue ink) automatically captures attention and conflicts with the task of naming the ink color.
4. Conclude that the Stroop effect demonstrates people's inability to ignore the meaning of words, which interferes with their ability to focus solely on the color.
5. Therefore, the correct completion of the sentence is that people cannot ignore the 'meaning' of words during the Stroop task.