The Stroop effect typically refers to the fact that the time to identify th
e color of a visually presented word is affected by the relationship betwee
n the word and the color. When the (irrelevant) word is semantically relate
d to the color (e.g., the word green, presented in red) response time is sl
ower than if the word is neutral or unrelated. One question that has been p
osed concerns whether semantics plays a role only when the task requires an
explicit verbal response, or whether it also plays a role when the respons
e is manual. Sharma and McKenna (1998) have reported that semantics plays a
role only when the response is vocal. A reanalysis of their data shows tha
t semantics also plays a role when manual responses are made.