Evaluating individual differences in rewarded Stroop performance: reliability and associations with self-report measures

• Published in: Psychological research 2023-04, Vol.87 (3), p.686-703
• Main Authors: Pitchford, Brent, Arnell, Karen M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavioral Science and Psychology; Humans; Individuality; Laboratories; Original Article; Psychological research; Psychology; Psychology Research; Questionnaires; Reaction Time - physiology; Reinforcement; Reproducibility of Results; Reward; Self control; Self Report; Stroop Test
• ISSN: 0340-0727; 1430-2772
• DOI: 10.1007/s00426-022-01689-5

In three separate experiments, we examined the reliability of and relationships between self-report measures and behavioral response time measures of reward sensitivity. Using a rewarded-Stroop task we showed that reward-associated, but task-irrelevant, information interfered with task performance (MIRA) in all three experiments, but individual differences in MIRA were unreliable both within-session and over a period of approximately 4 weeks, providing clear evidence that it is not a good individual differences measure. In contrast, when the task-relevant information was rewarded, individual differences in performance benefits were remarkably reliable, even when examining performance one year later, and with a different version of a rewarded Stroop task. Despite the high reliability of the behavioral measure of reward responsiveness, behavioral reward responsiveness was not associated with self-reported reward responsiveness scores using validated questionnaires but was associated with greater self-reported self-control. Results are discussed in terms of what is actually being measured in the rewarded Stroop task.