ALTERATIONS IN 2 VERSIONS OF THE STROOP TASK IN DEMENTIA OF THE ALZHEIMERS TYPE

We evaluated performance of DAT patients and controls on two forms of the Stroop task Q a Picture/Word interference version and a more class ic Colored Word naming Stroop. DAT subjects showed an exaggerated effe ct of interference in error data from the incongruent or distracting c olor conditions in both versions of the Stroop, compared to normals. T his suggests that DAT patients have an intact response activation proc ess !by target and distracter) but slowed or inefficient attentional s election (i.e., focusing on the target and ignoring the distracter). T his allows distracting (Incongruent) stimuli to have an even greater e ffect than seen in normal subjects.