Concentration Test
Here is a test of your concentration. There is a psychological test called the stroop test, one element of which shows colour words in a range of colours. For instance, 'red' may actually be written in yellow. This concentration test below is built on this idea, but instead of testing your speed it tests your ability to concentrate and focus.Below are 50 colour words, displayed in a range of colours. What we want you to do is go along at a reasonable pace, and say OUT LOUD the COLOUR of the text you see, not what the text itself says. See how many words you can get through without making a mistake. You may find it tricky to both concentrate on saying the words and checking whether you got it right or not at once, so one simple method would be to work with a partner on this, or indeed if you are having some light relief from work in the office then ask a colleague to check over your shoulder that you are getting things right as you go along!
As you can see, this is a great test of concentration, as when you lose a little focus that is when you will make a mistake. You can repeat the test as many times as you like - a different list of colours will appear below each time. Once you manage all 50 regularly, try building up speed and improve concentration even more!
Some people report finding this test much harder than others and making slower progress. If you find that you have particular difficulties with the puzzle, then try printing it out (in colour of course) and see if that helps. Others suggest going through line by line or even isolating word by word to avoid the distraction of the surrounding words. Certainly our natural predisposition to 'read ahead' can get us in trouble with a concentration puzzle like this as, because all the words relate to the same subject matter, we can accidentally say the next colour we see before having said the one of the word we are currently on.
RED RED GREEN PINK GREEN ORANGE PURPLE BLUE RED GREEN
ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE GREEN PURPLE PURPLE BLUE PURPLE PURPLE RED
BLUE RED BLUE GREEN RED RED RED PINK ORANGE ORANGE
BLUE PURPLE ORANGE PINK BLUE PINK BLUE GREEN ORANGE GREEN
BLUE GREEN GREEN GREEN PURPLE PINK RED BLUE RED PINK
How did you do? For another random set of words and colours, re-take the Concentration Test
