Abstract:
The stroop effect can be reduced through stroop dilution and this is achieved through the use of neutral words. This paper focuses on a study undertaken on a sample where n = 30 and the participants were exposed to three tests, one test included testing time taken to read colour words which had the same colour as the word stated, the second test was to record the time taken to read words colour words that had different colours as the colour word stated and the third and final test was to test the time taken for the individual to read neutral words containing different colours.
The study was undertaken to determine whether there was a reduction in the stroop effect which was to be based on the time taken to accomplish the three tasks, it was found out that indeed the stroop effect reduced ands this was noted due to the reduction in the time taken in reading the third task.

Introduction:
The stroop effect is viewed as the interference when undertaking a task; this effect was first coined by Ridley Stroop in 1935. his findings were that there was usually a delay when naming a colour name which is written in a different colour, example writing the word RED in colour red would result into much easier to read than if RED is written in blue, this is due to the stroop effect. Some theorists have come up with explanation of this effect and this includes the speed to process theory and the selective attention theory.
According to the speed of process theory the stroop effect is viewed as an interference which occurs because the words are read faster than colour naming, this theory states that words are easily read than the colours and for this reason the effect occurs. The selective attention theory on the hand states that the stroop effect occurs because colour naming requires more attention than when a person is reading the word, therefore because of the ease to read words the effect occurs.
The importance of the Stroop effect in psychology can be viewed in the ability to manipulate or control the effect which can be used to improve the cognitive abilities of individual and increases the chances of good judgment and decisions in actual world scenarios.
Other scholars such as Cho, Lien, and Proctor (2006) found out that neutral words can reduce the Stroop effect, the use of neutral wards is what is referred to as stroop dilution, However Brown, Roos Gilbert and Carr (1995) reported that the reduction of the Stroop effect does not differ when words or symbols are used. Kahneman and Chajczyk (1983) on the other hand stated that showed that Stroop effect is reduced when the incongruent colour word and neutral words are placed to the side (flanks) of the colour patch. They noted that interference attributed to the Stroop effect required attention and that spreading the attention in more locations causes reduction of the Stroop effect.

Discussion:
In the study above the first and second task was to determine whether there was stroop effect in the tasks assigned, the first task involved a study that involved recording of time used in treading four words which were colour words and the second task involved reading words that were colour words but the font colour was different from the word meaning, the study through the hypothesis test showed that there was an increase in average time used to read out the words in task one, this increase shows the stroop effect.
The third task which involved reading out neutral words whose fonts had different colours was to check whether there was a reduction in the average time used to read out the words. From the hypothesis test it is clear that stroop dilution reduced the effect whereby the average time used to complete task two was greater than the average time used to complete task three.
From this reason therefore we can conclude that the stroop effect is the interference when undertaking a task, it also shows that the effect can be reduced by the use of neutral words also known as stroop dilution.
Conclusion:
The test of the stroop effect shows that there is usually an interference in performing reading tasks especially colour font words, however from this study stroop dilution is a way which the stroop effect can be reduced, this was the main aim of the study to check the validity of the assumption that stroop dilution can reduce the stroop effect, from the hypothesis test it is clear that the mean for completing the final task was less.
The study comprised of 30 respondents who were briefed on the aims of the study and all the respondents completed the tasks successfully and data used for statistical analysis. However there is need to undertake another study which involves a larger or different sample in order to validate the theory. Further studies should also be aimed at determining what causes the stroop effect and other how other methods can be used to reduce the effect.
The first and second task was to determine whether there was stroop effect in the tasks assigned, the hypothesis test of the means obtained in both tasks showed that there was an increase in average time used to read out the words in task one, this increase shows the stroop effect. The third task involved reading out neutral words whose the hypothesis test in this case showed that indeed the stroop effect was reduced due to the reduction in the mean time used to read out complete the task. Therefore stroop effect can be reduced by the use of neutral words also known as stroop dilution.

BACKGROUND ON THE STROOP EFFECT
The psychological occurrence we now call "the Stroop effect" was first described in 1935 by John Ridley Stroop (Stroop, J. R. (1935) -- Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18, 643-622.). Why has the Stroop effect continued to fascinate psychologists? Part of the answer is that the Stroop effect appears to tap into essential operations of cognition, thereby offering clues to fundamental cognitive processes.
In two classic experiments, Stroop first compared reading a list of words printed in black with reading the same list of words printed in incongruent colors. Stroop found that there was little difference in reading time for the two lists. Stroop then compared the naming of colors for a list of solid color squares with the naming of colors for a list of words printed in incongruent colors. Subjects averaged 74% longer to name ink colors of incongruent words.
The results of these two studies led Stroop to conclude that since people are more practiced at word reading than naming colors, there is less interference with word reading than with color naming.

AUTOMATICITY MODEL
Since the original study, the Stroop effect has been investigated in a variety of ways. One general finding is that the Stroop effect is very robust. For example, the Stroop effect extends to color-related words (e.g. sky and fire). It extends to non-words that sound like color words (e.g. wred and bloo). It occurs with the words are presented suboptimally (dim, faded, small, etc.). It is resistant to practice. In summary, the difficulty of removing the interference effect of the Stroop task has led some researchers to claim that the brain is wired to recognize words without effort. This explanation is called the "automatic word recognition hypothesis" (or automaticity hypothesis), and it is so widely accepted that it is often given, in psychology textbooks, as the only answer to the Stroop effect. According to this theory, reading is an automatic process, which cannot be turned off. In other words, people see the meaning or words without much effort or consciousness. On the other hand, naming colors is not automatic. It requires more effort than reading, thus creating interference in the Stroop task.

A SPEED OF PROCESSING MODEL
The "Speed of Processing" hypothesis suggests that word processing is much faster than color processing. Thus, in a situation of incongruency between words and colors, when the task is to report the color, the word information arrives at the decision process stage earlier than the color information and results in processing confusion. On the other hand, when the task is to report the word, because the color information lags behind the word information, a decision can be made before the conflicting color information arrives.

A PARALLEL DISTRIBUTED PROCESSING MODEL
Different tasks develop different processing pathways, and practice, as well as biological wiring, create different pathway strengths. Consequently it is strength, not speed, that is basic. Additionally, the degree of automaticity is a function of the strength of each pathway. What this means for the Stroop task is that if two pathways are active simultaneously and the pathway that leads to the response is stronger (naming words), no interference occurs. However, if two pathways are active simultaneously and the pathway that leads to the response is weaker (naming the color of the word), interference results.
THE STROOP EFFECT
To understand the mental process involved in the Stroop effect, look at the following four letters: tree. If you are like most people it is difficult for you not to quickly read the word "tree." Most humans are so proficient at reading, at perceiving whole words, that they do not easily notice the individual letters. This is why proofreading is so hard to do. This tendency to quickly perceive words is used in testing for the Stroop effect.
The Stroop effect (sometimes called the Stroop test) is an outcome of our mental (attentional) vitality and flexibility. The effect is related to the ability of most people to read words more quickly and automatically than they can name colors. If a word is displayed in a color different from the color it actually names; for example, if the wordgreen is written in blue ink (as shown in the figure to the left) then we have a hard time noticing the blue ink. In this instance, even when asked to name the color of the ink, we tend to say the name the word represents.
THE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY
John Ridley Stroop first reported this effect in his Ph.D. dissertation published in 1935. Current research on the Stroop effect emphasizes the interference that automatic processing of words has on the more mentally effortful task of just naming the ink color. The task of making an appropriate response - when given two conflicting signals - has tentatively been located in a part of the brain called the anterior cingulate. This is a region that lies between the right and left halves of the frontal portion of the brain. It is involved in a wide range of cognitive processes.
Although the functions of theanterior cingulate are very complex, broadly speaking it acts as a conduit between lower, somewhat more impulse-driven brain regions and higher, somewhat more thought-driven behaviors. The Stroop effect's sensitivity to changes in brain function may be related to its association with the anterior cingulate.
THE ROLE OF DIRECTED ATTENTION
The cognitive mechanism at work in this process is called directed attention. This mental resource is used to manage our thoughts by inhibiting one response in order to say or do something else.
The capacity to direct attention is a foundational mental resource that allows us to voluntarily manage the focus of our thoughts. It is useful in our effort to remain effective, productive, clearheaded and helpful. We can use it to inhibit the power of certain features of the immediate physical and social environment, as well as internal distractions, so as to allow consideration of less salient but nonetheless valued information.
Directed attention allows for a variety of prosocial and proenvironmental behaviors. It permits us to pursue important goals despite interesting competition in the immediate setting, to help others despite our own unmet needs, and to resist temptation so that we can remain devoted to a larger concern. In short, the capacity to direct attention is an essential resource for achieving both civility and environmental stewardship.
FATIGUING THE CAPACITY TO DIRECT ATTENTION
Research indicates that directed attention is a scarce and finite mental resource. When placed under continual demand, our ability to direct the focus of our thoughts tires, resulting in a condition called directed attention fatigue (DAF). This condition reduces our overall mental effectiveness and makes consideration of abstract concepts and long-term goals difficult, at best.
SOME CONSEQUENCES OF DIRECTED ATTENTION FATIGUE
DAF causes irritability and impulsivity that results in regrettable behavior, impatience that has us making poor decisions, and distractibility that allows the immediate environment to have a greatly magnified effect on our decisions. Directed attention fatigue makes both pro-environmental and pro-social behavior much less likely.