The Stroop Effect - Test

Run through each list naming each colour that you see, without actually reading the words. If English is your first language the second list will likely cause a little conflict in your brain, slowing you down or causing you to stumble.

This psychological test demonstrates how difficult it is for the brain to overcome certain learned processes such as reading, but hypnotic suggestion has been found to overcome this effect.

The following articles provide a good summary of the research:

Hypnotic suggestion can reduce conflict in human brain, Weill Cornell medical college researchers report
The study's publication in the July 12 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) is remarkable for two reasons: first, it provides compelling evidence that humans can "unlearn" an automatic process, and, second, it points to hypnotic suggestion as a powerful new tool for brain research, generally.The study focuses on the Stroop Test -- a hallmark of attentional research that asks people to simply name the ink color a word is printed in.

Scientists Use Post-Hypnotic Suggestion on the Stroop Effect

The Stroop task asks participants to ignore the meaning of the word and focus on the color of the ink. When presented with the word BLUE in red ink, the brain wants to automatically process what it reads instead of ignoring the color.