A preliminary investigation on the relationship between color-word Stroop task performance and delusion-proneness in nonpsychiatric adults

The current study examined whether there is a relationship between the dimension of delusion-proneness and performance on the color-word Stroop task. As dysfunction in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been related to both Stroop task performance and the presence of delusions in various psychiatric populations, we hypothesized that impaired Stroop performance would relate to increased delusion-proneness in a nonpsychiatric sample. A total of 36 college students, representing a wide range of scores on a measure of delusion-proneness (Peters et al. Delusions Inventory—PDI-21), completed a computerized version of the classic color-word Stroop task. Results revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between the PDI-21 score and the Stroop effect. The pattern of results suggests that reduced efficiency of Stroop performance is related to increasing levels of delusion-proneness. This study appears to be the first to report this relationship across a continuum of delusion-proneness in a nonpsychiatric sample. This finding contributes to the cognitive neurobiological understanding of delusions and adds further support for the dimensional construct of propensity for delusions.