Some reports indicate that cigarette smoking can help smokers focus attention, even when they have not abstained from smoking for a substantial period of time (eg, >1 h). Understanding the mechanisms ...

(via SciShow Psych) The task sounds like it should be pretty easy, but the Stroop task is a fantastic, and very well studied, example of how your brain’s automatic processing can trip you up!

During the Stroop Task (pictured), which involves having to say the name of the color that the word is written in (blue for the top word) rather than reading the word (red), we feel conflicting urges ...