How Does the Color of Stimuli Affect the Memory of Third and Seventh Graders?
Researched by Michelle C. 2002-03	PURPOSE  HYPOTHESIS  EXPERIMENT DESIGN  MATERIALS  PROCEDURES  RESULTS  CONCLUSION  RESEARCH REPORT  BIBLIOGRAPHY  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  ABOUT THE Jr. SCIENTIST

The purpose of this experiment was to determine how the color of stimuli would affect memory for 3rd and 7th graders.

I became interested in this idea when I tried to teach my younger siblings a song but my little sister, the youngest, couldn’t remember it. 

The information gained from this experiment may help teachers decide whether or not to teach with colorful materials.

My first hypothesis was that 3rd graders would remember more colored shapes than black shapes.

My second hypothesis was that 7th graders would remember more colored shapes than black shapes.

My third hypothesis was that 7th graders would have a better overall memory of the shapes than the 3rd graders overall memory.

I based my first and second hypotheses on a statement made by Mrs. Penny McGrath a professional educator who teaches both 3rd and 7th graders. She stated "There are a lot of visual learners and they learn better with colors than by only being told what to do"

I also based, my third hypothesis on a statement made by Mrs. Penny McGrath who explained " Third graders learning abilities are still developing so they can’t remember as well as seventh graders who’s learning abilities are already developed."

• The constants in this study were:
• The number of test subjects in a group (10)
• The place where the tests were given
• The number of shapes on a list (20)
• The shapes on the list
• The amount of time to study the shapes (5minutes)
• The amount of shapes on a test (40) 
• The amount of time to complete the test (5 minutes)
• The shapes on a test
• The amount of time between the studying time and the testing time (1 hour)
• The space between subjects while testing (3 feet)

The responding variable was the number of shapes correctly remembered. 

To measure the responding variable I counted the number of shapes that were correctly remembered. 

1. Create a list of 20 different shapes with 10 printed in color and 10 in black.
2. Create a test with 40 different shapes (all 20 from the original list and an additional 20) all in black. Be sure that the second 20 are no more or less familiar than the original list.
3. Make at least 60 copies on white paper of the list and 60 copies of the test.
4. Obtain 30 third grade volunteers and 30 seventh grade volunteers. Be sure to include only volunteers who return a signed parent permission form.
5. Arrange time with teachers ( two scheduled times: one for studying the list and one for taking the test)
6. Bring the first third grade testing group (about 10 students) into the empty testing room and check to make sure they are spaced evenly throughout the room.
7. Explain to the test subjects what is going to happen and answer their questions.
8. Pass out one list, face down, to each subject.
9. Instruct the subjects to turn over the paper and study the list for 5 minutes. After the 5 minutes are up, have the subjects return the lists.
10. The subjects then return to their classrooms where they will remain for one hour.
11. After one hour have the test subjects return to the empty testing room.
12. Pass out one test to each subject.
13. For the test, have the students circle the shapes they remember from the original list. Use a stopwatch and end the test after 5 minutes.
14. The subjects can now return to their classes.
15. Count the correct answers on each test.
      Use the answer key and record the results.
16. Repeat steps 6-15 with all the other third grade testing groups.
17. Repeat steps 5-15 with the first seventh grade testing group.
18. Repeat steps 6-15 with all the other seventh grade testing groups.
19. Calculate the average amount of correct answers for all the third grade testing groups. Record this information.
20. Calculate the average amount of correct answers for all the seventh grade testing groups. Record this information.
 

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine how the color of stimuli would affect memory for 3rd and 7th graders.

The results of the experiment were that students in the seventh grade remembered an average of 19 shapes: 9.47 black, and 9.53 colored. Third grade students remembered an average of 18.13 shapes: 9.13 black, and 8.83 colored. 

View my table and graph.

My first hypothesis was that 3rd graders would remember more colored shapes than black shapes. The results indicate that my first hypothesis should be rejected because third graders remembered more black shapes than colored.

My second hypothesis was that 7th graders would remember more colored shapes than black shapes. The results indicate that my second hypothesis should be accepted because seventh graders remembered more colored shapes than black. This difference was extremely small, however.

My third hypothesis was that 7th graders would have a better overall memory of the shapes than the 3rd graders overall memory. The results indicate that my third hypothesis should be accepted because seventh graders remembered more overall shapes than third graders.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if males and females would remember colored or black shapes differently.

If I were to conduct this project again I would use many more subjects and provide less time to observe the shapes and take the test. I would have also used a few more shapes on each list and would have made sure the number of third and seventh graders were nearly equal. Most importantly I would have made sure every subject marked exactly 20 shapes!

RESEARCH REPORT Without memory no one would learn how to do any of the important skills it takes to survive. Color makes our world more interesting, but it also provides important information about our world. Memory Memory is the ability to remember. It is a vital part of our learning process. If people didn’t posses memory they wouldn’t remember past experiences and they wouldn’t be able to learn anything new. Our experiences would be lost as soon as they ended.  Each situation would be entirely unfamiliar. You would have experiences for the "first time" every time. Storing Memories Storing memories takes chemical and physical changes in brain nerve cells. Chemical and physical changes take place in a small place in the brain called the hippocampus. The hippocampus is part of a larger structure called the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex controls most higher brain actions, for example problem solving and language. Measuring Memory The three commonly used ways to measure memory are recall, recognition, and relearning. When a person lists as many things as he/she can remember that is recall. Recognition is when a person is given a list and they can remember things that did happen or were there and things that didn’t happen or weren’t there. Most people recognize more than they recall. When students take tests they most commonly perform better on multiple choice than on essay questions. Relearning is when a person memorizes something after apparently forgetting it. Most people relearn information faster than they did the first time.  Why Do People Forget? People forget more and more as time passes. An hour after something happens a person would probably remember everything that happened. Two days afterward they’d remember a few things, but after a month they would probably remember even less. The main explanations for this include interference, retrieval failure, motivated forgetting and constructive process. Interference When remembering, certain learned material blocks other learned material. If a person moves, he/she may have trouble remembering his/her new phone number because the old one keeps coming to mind and interfering. Once the new one is thoroughly learned the person may have trouble recalling the old one. Proactive interference or proactive inhibition is when previously learned material makes it hard to remember new material. Retroactive interference or retroactive inhibition is when the learning of new facts interferes with the memory of previously learned facts. Retrieval Failure Retrieval failure is the inability to recall information stored in the memory. A person might not have been able to think of a name or other information but later effortlessly remembered it. The information is not gone but cannot be immediately recalled. Motivated Forgetting Motivated forgetting is caused by conscious or unconscious desires. Scientists believe we forget many things because we want to forget them. It is related to a psychological process called repression. Repression involves forcing unpleasant feelings or painful experiences from the conscious mind into the unconscious mind. Constructive Process The constructive process involves unconscious inventions of false memories. Constructing probable happenings to tell complete stories are called refabrications or confabulations. Refabricated memories seem real and are very hard to distinguish from events that actually happened. Improving Memory Memory experts believe people can, with practice, increase their ability to remember things. The most important means is the use of mental aids called mnemonic devices. Mnemonic devices include rhymes, clues, mental pictures and other methods. One of the simplest mnemonic devices is putting information into a rhyme. Providing clues by acronyms is another form. An acronym is a word formed by the first letters or syllables of other words, for example "Roy G. Biv". That acronym is for the colors of the visible spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. A mental picture is made by the key word method. Mental pictures can be used to remember words or names. Six Types of Memory There are six types of memory. The first is short-term memory. Short-term memory stores information that is only needed for a brief period of time. This type of memory only recalls about 6-8 items with specific categories. The second type of memory is long-term memory. Long-term memory stores information for long periods of time. Sensory memory is the third type of memory. Sensory memory is important to the way people perceive the world around them. You never forget sensory impressions. Almost every taste and smell that is experienced is a permanent record in a person’s brain. The fourth type of memory is motor skill memory. Motor skill memory is the memory of physical activities. They are learned by repetition, this makes them very hard to forget. The fifth type of memory is verbal/semantic memory. This type of memory enables people to know the meanings of words and math concepts. Most can remember several hundred thousand words and meanings. Photographic memory stores images that remain vivid photographs in the mind. This is the sixth type of memory. This is a highly developed form of memory that can remember whole pages of books including punctuation. Photographic memory usually lasts for a short period of time.  The Human Brain The human brain consists of three main parts. The cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the brain stem.  The cerebrum is the largest and most complex part of the brain, it controls both thought and learning. The cerebellum is the part of the brain below the back of the cerebrum that regulates balance and movement and coordinates the muscles. The brain stem is the lowest part of the brain; it connects the spinal cord with the cerebrum. Light Light is an energy form that behaves like waves. Light waves have a range of wavelengths. A wavelength is the distance between any points where one wave has a corresponding point on the next wave. Light, containing all wavelengths with the same proportions of sunlight, appears white. Electromagnetic Waves Light waves in the form of electromagnetic waves consist of patterns of electric and magnetic energy. The visible spectrum is a small part of the entire range of electromagnetic waves. Beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum are the ultraviolet rays, x-rays and gamma rays. Beyond the red end of the visible spectrum are the infrared rays and the radio waves. The Relationship Between Light And Color A beam of sunlight passes through a specially shaped glass object called a prism. Then rays of different wavelengths are bent in different angles. When the bending breaks up the sunlight appears in beautiful bands of colors. A band has all the colors in the rainbow; it is called the visible spectrum. On one end of the spectrum the light appears violet, this is the shortest wavelength. Father along the spectrum the wavelengths get increasingly longer. The red end of the spectrum is the longest wavelength.   Color Blindness The eye sees by light stimulating the retina (neuro-membrane), lining on the inside back of the eye. The retina is made up of "rods and cones". The rods, in the peripheral retina, give us night vision, but they can’t tell colors. Cones, in the center of the retina (macula), are not very good at night but they can see color during the day. Cones have a light sensitive pigment; it is sensitive over ranging wavelengths. Genes have coding instructions for the pigments. If the coding instructions are wrong the wrong pigments will be produced and the cones will become sensitive to different wavelengths. Colors that we see are completely dependent on sensitivity ranges of those pigments. Many people think "colorblind" means you can only see black and white. This is not true; it is extremely rare to be entirely colorblind. There are many different types and degrees of colorblindness. A more accurate name would be color deficiency. People with normal cones and light sensitive pigment are able to see all different colors and subtle mixtures. This is by using cones sensitive to one of three of the wavelengths, red, green, or blue. A mild color deficiency is present when one or more of the three cones that contains light sensitive pigments is not quite right and its peak sensitivity is shifted.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Barret, Susan L. It’s All In Your Head. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing Inc., 1992. Pp. 85. Forbes, Mindy. Personal Interview. November 15, 2002 Gunter, Wyszecki. "Color". World Book CD ROM. 20002 edition. CD-ROM. Jacobs, Mitzy. Telephone Interview. November 8, 2002. Loftus, Elizabeth F. "Memory". The World Book Encyclopedia. 1995 "Memory: Fabric of The Mind". Films for the Humanities. 1988. "Memory". The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia. 1991. Silverstein, Dr. Alvin; Silverstein, Virginia and Silverstein, Robert. The Nervous System.  Brookfield: Twenty-First Century Books, 1994. Pp. 60, 61. "The Human Brain".  AIMS Media. "What Is Colorblindness and The Different Types". November 13, 2002. <http://members.aol.com/nocolorvsn/color2.htm

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to give a big thank you to…

• My advanced science teacher for holding after school work times and helping me to be successful with my science project.
• Mrs. Helms for being there when I did my experiment and for helping to take and crop my pictures.
• My immediate science teacher for allowing me to go to advanced science and for giving me time to work on my science project.
• My family for transporting me, suppotingme and for buying my supplies.

Menu of 2002-2003 Science Projects

Back to the Selah Homepage