Effects of influenza and the common cold on the Stroop color-word test.

Two experiments examined the effects of experimentally induced upper respiratory viral infections on selective attention. In Exp. 1, 61 adults were challenged with a cold-producing virus; analysis showed no effect of infection or illness on performance of the Stroop task. In contrast to this the results of Exp. 2, involving 27 adults, showed that influenza increased distractibility from irrelevant stimuli.