Citation

Peschke C, Olk B, Hilgetag CC. PLoS One 2013; 8(5): e64712.

Affiliation

School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen, Bremen, Germany ; Department of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Public Library of Science)

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0064712

PMID

23717653

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.

Language: en