The Stroop Color-Naming Task in Eating Disorders: A Review of the Research

Abstract

Body size estimation research, which has extended over more than two decades, has failed to clarify the significance of body image disturbance in the dieting-induced disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Researchers have recently begun to employ a modified Stroop procedure to investigate the body- and food-related psychopathology in those disorders. This paper critically examines that research, bearing in mind the salutary lesson that can be learned from the body size estimation research. It is argued that the potential usefulness of the modified Stroop is dependent, at the broadest level, on careful consideration of the specificity, consistency, and meaning of subjects' responses to the color-naming task.