Two studies were conducted to examine the relationship between semantic memory retrieval speed and the Stroop task. Study 1 used a priming paradigm with the instance-instance pairs. Study 2 used a priming paradigm with the category-instance pairs. The results of both studies showed that there were negative correlations between semantic memory retrieval speed and standardized verbal ability tests. However, there was little evidence for correlations between semantic memory retrieval speed and speed in the Stroop task. These results indicated that speed in the Stroop task was not a good predictor of individual differences in semantic memory retrieval speed.