The Effect of Colors on Memory Retention of Items on a List
Researched by Mary L. 2000-01	PURPOSE  HYPOTHESIS  EXPERIMENT DESIGN  MATERIALS  PROCEDURES  RESULTS  CONCLUSION  RESEARCH REPORT  BIBLIOGRAPHY  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE RESEARCHER

The first purpose of this experiment was to determine whether 7th graders or 4th graders remember more words. The second purpose was to determine the effect of primary and secondary colors on memory retention of items on a list.  The third purpose was to determine the effect of time between seeing the list and taking the test. 

I became interested in this idea when I was watching television and wondered why they used color instead of black and white.   When I did my science project last year on the effect of color on memory retention of items on a list, it was very interesting and I wanted to do further study. 

The information gained from this experiment will benefit teachers and students who are teaching or trying to learn, so they know what colors to use. 
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My first hypothesis was that the 7th grade students would remember more words than 4th graders.  My second hypothesis was that students would remember words in primary colors better.  My third hypothesis was that students would remember the words better one day after they read the list. 

I base my first hypothesis on Mrs. Tawni Taylor, a seventh grade teacher, also an ex fourth-grade teacher, who said, "Seventh graders will probably remember more words than the 4th graders because 7th graders have learned more test skills like using acronyms to remember words and other strategies." 

I base my second hypothesis on Professor Birren, who said, "Light blue, yellow and orange promote a higher IQ."  A majority colors are primary, so I think students will remember primary colors best.  I also think students will remember those colors better from personal experience with reading items and most important words are in red text, which is a primary color.  I surveyed of some 7th and 4th grade students who said they normally read the words in red and yellow text first because it is bright and it draws their attention. 

I base my third hypothesis on a student survey where a majority of them said they would remember words better one day after.  McKenzie Headley, a seventh grade student said, "I totally blank out one hour after read a list because I, like many other students have a bad short term memory.  Carmen LaBissoniere, a 4th grade student said, "I remember things better the day after I see them."
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The constants in this study were:

 Amount of time to view the list

 Amount of time to view the tests

 The time differences with each grade

 The relative difficulty list compared to the grade of the student

 The type of place to take the test

 The number of words on the lists

 The number of words on the test

The responding variable was the number of words each student remembers. 

To measure the responding variable I will use a black and white list that has all 27 correct answers and 27 "distracter" words. 
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1. Create all of the materials (list one and two for all of the grades)

• Gather the words for the list from a spelling book from the grade lower that the grade the subjects are in.  (I used a sixth grade list and a third grade list because my subjects were in seventh grade and fourth grade.  I wanted to have words easy enough for all the children, even those below grade level.) 
• Randomly select the words and colorize an equal number of these as primary (red, blue and yellow), secondary (purple, orange and green) and black. 
• Write the instruction script for each group before they begin the experiment. 

The first purpose of this experiment was to determine whether 7th graders or 4th graders remember more words. The second purpose was to determine the effect of primary and secondary colors on memory retention of items on a list.  The third purpose was to determine the effect of time between seeing the list and taking the test.

The results of the experiment were that 7th grade students remembered an average total of 16.7 words.  Fourth grade students remembered an average total of 17.3 words.  The students also remembered an average of 5.5 words printed in secondary colors, 5.6 words printed in primary colors and 6 words printed in black.  The students remembered an average total of 17.5 words one hour after viewing the list and 16.5 words 24 hours after viewing the list. 

See the table and graph

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My first hypothesis was that the 7th grade students would remember more words than 4th graders. The results indicate that my first hypothesis should be rejected. 

My second hypothesis was that students would remember words in primary colors better. The results also indicate that my second hypothesis should be rejected. 

My third hypothesis was that students would remember the words better one day after they read the list.  My third hypothesis should also be rejected. 

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if adults or kindergartners would remember more words.  Maybe if I waited even longer, like a week, that would have a different effect.  I wonder if the tones of the color would have an effect on the results.  Also, I wonder if pictures would have a different effect on memory.  Maybe if I read the list to the students, they would remember more or less words. 

If I were to conduct this project again, I would have taken more pictures to document better my procedures.  I would have also tried to get more subjects and I would have used a longer list of words. 
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RESEARCH REPORT   INTRODUCTION  Memory is a very important part of learning.  It is the ability  to remember something that has already been learned.  If there wasn’t memory, every event in life would be "for the first time." Memory Memory is stored in the parts of the brain called the thalmus and the hippocampus.  They are located is the cerebral cortex, which is one of the three parts of your brain.  The hippocampus curls off the end of the cerebral cortex. Scientists don’t know for sure how memory works, but they know it involves a chemical change in the brain’s one trillion neurons.  Every time you learn something new, a new path is made. Loss and Improvement You lose memory either when you don’t think about something for a long time, or when different memories get confused with each other. According to interference theories, when you forget, one memory gets confused with another.  For example, when a friend moves, you might think of their old number, instead of their new one. A common cause for memory loss is amnesia.  Amnesia is normally caused by a major trauma.  A person with amnesia may remember things that  occur after the trauma, but will forget things from one day before the trauma to years back.  Some common causes for amnesia are stress, accidents and drugs. Memory can also be improved and exercised by using mnemonical devices. Mnemonical devices are rhymes, clues, mind games, mental pictures and other tricks which help you remember things.  You  associate two different thoughts to help you remember, for instance, your plane leaves at two o’clock and the plane has two wings.  "ROY G. BIV" is a mnemonical device for the colors of the spectrum: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Indigo and Violet. Different Kinds of Memory The three main kind of memory are short term, long term and sensory. Short term memory helps you remember things for a short amount of time. For example, when you remember a phone number, you remember it long enough to go from the phonebook the phone to dial the number.  If you try hard enough, you can transfer something from short term memory to long term memory.  A person with very good memory could recite the number a few times and have it in their long term memory, while someone else might have to study the same thing for weeks until it is transferred into long term memory.  That’s why you remember a phone number you call often without looking it up each time.  Long term memory helps you remember things for a long period of time. It is so powerful that some information stored can last a lifetime. Some examples are a friend’s birthday, or memories from when you were a child.  Sometimes you can forget a memory, but if you see or hear something familiar, you remember it. Sensory memory (also known as immediate memory) is for things you hold in your memory for such a short amount of time that most people don’t even know about it.  For example, you may look at a picture, when you turn and walk away from it, you don’t even remember exactly what it looked like. Most people have visual memory, not to be confused with photographic memory which 5% of young children have.  Photographic memory is very rare in adults.  People who have photographic memory can take a picture in their mind and remember exactly what it looked like, or read a book in their mind. Other kinds of memory are motor skill, factual, declarative and procedural memory.  Motor skills are things like walking and riding a bike.  It makes it possible for you to do things, without even thinking about them.  Factual memory is used to remember telephone numbers or  the story line of a book.  Declarative memory is used to remember dates of events, historical facts and more.  Procedural memory is used to remember procedures and abilities like the ability to drive a car  and how to play foot ball to tieing your shoe strings or a tie. Color Color isn’t really what most people think.  Color is light reflecting off the pigment in the objects you see.  If you’re looking at a shirt, the light bounces off the pigment and hits your eye and all other  colors are absorbed.  You see only the color that is reflected.  That’s why  you can’t see in the dark. The primary pigment colors are blue, yellow and red.  If you mix different combinations of them, you get secondary colors.  For instance, if you combine blue and yellow you get green.  Yellow and red make orange. When you combine red and blue, the result is purple.  If you mix all of these colors equally, you get black. Every color has an opposite.  The opposite of black is white, green is red, orange is blue.  You see the opposite in an after image.  To see  an after image, stare at a picture for about 30 seconds.  Then, stare at a white surface and you will see the picture is its opposite colors. Although blue, red and yellow are primary pigment colors, blue, red and green are the primary colors of light.  If you mix them all together equally, you get white.  When you mix red and blue, you receive a  purple light.  If you mix red and green, you get a yellow light.  A  combination of blue and green results in a blue/green light. Also, if you shine a light through a prism, you get the colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.  When  you shine a light through a prism, it separates the colors. SUMMARY As you can see, memory is a very important part of learning.  Without it, the human species wouldn't exist.  Top of Page

BIBLIOGRAPHY Cardoso, Silvia H Ph.D.   "Types of Memory," (Online) Available at http://www.epub.org.br/cn/nol/memo/memory.htm   Created 1997 Gummess, Glen.  "The Use of Color in Teaching and Learning," (Online) Available at http://www.nmjc.cc.nm.us/pannell/COLORS/color/.html Loftus, Elizabeth F.  "Memory,"  World Book Encyclopedia,  1999 Vol. 13, pg. 392-294 1991 Restak, Richard.  "Brain,"  World Book Encyclopedia,  1999 Vol. 2, pg. 561-565  1991 Tripathi, Ramesh and Brenda.  "Color," World Book Encyclopedia,  1999 Vol. 4, pg. 816-827, 1991  Top of Page

First of all I would like to thank my parents for encourageing me to always doing my best.  Second, I would like to thank the IRB committee for passing my project.  With out their help, this project wouldn't be possible.  I would like to thank Mr. Newkirk and Mrs. Pasckvalle for all of the help they gave me. 
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