Should I stay or should I go--cognitive conflict in multi-attribute signals probed with East and West German 'Ampelmännchen' traffic signs

Abstract

In post-unification Germany, lingering conflicts between East and West Germans have found some unusual outlets, including a debate of the relative superiority of East and West German 'Ampelmännchen' pedestrian traffic signs. In our study, we probed the visual efficacy of East and West German Ampelmännchen signs with a Stroop-like conflict task. We found that the distinctive East German man-with-hat figures were more resistant to conflicting information, and in turn produced greater interference when used as distractors. These findings demonstrate Stroop-like effects for real-life objects, such as traffic signs, and underline the practical utility of an East German icon.

Figure 1. Ampelmännchen stimuli.

A) Congruent condition: go/stop signs from East (upper panel) and West Germany (lower panel); left figures signaling “go”; right figures “stop”; B) Incongruent condition: go/stop signs with altered colors; C) Examples for control condition: color circles with same area size (number of pixels) of color as corresponding signs.

Figure 2. Effective reaction time (RT*) depending on task and stimulus conditions.

RT* was longer for the shape than color task, incongruent than congruent stimuli, and West compared to East signs. Error bars represent standard errors.