| Does the Color of Printed Shapes Affect Memory? | |
Researched by Breanna D. 2003-04 |
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The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether the color of printed shapes affected human memory.
I became interested in this idea when I started to realize more how much our everyday life depends on memory. My third grade teacher told us that we’d remember the information on the graphs we looked at better if they were in color. I wasn’t sure about that, so since then, I’ve been waiting to look further into the idea.
The information gained from this experiment would aid educators in teaching
their students so they would remember information better. It would also
aid people with poor memory in finding ways to remember things more effectively.
My hypothesis was that 6th graders would remember more shapes if they were originally shown to them in color rather than in black and white.
I based my hypothesis on what Jerrold E. Kemp and Don C. Smellie say in their book Planning, Producing, and Using Instructional Technologies. “Color incorporated into illustrations appears to enhance students’ achievement of learning objects. ”
I also based my hypothesis on what David M. Moore and Francis M. Dwyer say in their book, Perceptual and Motor Skills. They state, “Color ‘coding’ helps learners organize or categorize information into useful patterns and structures in which to store new information. ”
I also based my hypothesis on Aura Hanna and Roger Remington‘s book, Memory and Cognition. Here they state, “We found that students recognize information more accurately when the stimulus is colored rather that in black and white. ” They also say they found that color improves accuracy of recall at the expense of speed.
The constants in this study were:
- Grade of subjects (6th)
- Background color of test (white)
- Time to study shapes (4 minutes)
- Time to take test (8 minutes)
- Location of experiment
- Noise level (quiet classroom)
- Time of day test taken (noon)
- Number of subjects (20 in each experiment treatment)
- Equal mix of gender
- Testing procedures
- Time between study and test (30 minutes)
- Treatment schedule
The manipulated variable was color of the shapes on the test.
The responding variable was the average test score subjects got on the test.
To measure the responding variable I counted the number correct on the
tests.
QUANTITY ITEM DESCRIPTION
| 25 | Tests with 30 shapes (include shapes from ‘List A’), 15 tests in color, 15 tests in black ink, all titled ‘Test A’ |
| 25 | Tests with 30 shapes (include shapes from ‘List B’), 15 tests in color, 15 tests in black ink, all titled ‘Test B’ |
| 24 | Lists of 15 shapes, 12 lists in color, 12 lists in black ink, all titled ‘List A’ |
| 24 | Lists of 15 shapes, different from ‘List A,’12 lists in color, 12 lists in black ink, all titled ‘List B’ |
| 24 | 6th grade test subjects (approximately12 of each gender) |
| 24 | Desks with chairs |
| 24 | # 2 pencils |
| 1 | Class room without distractions |
| 1 | Experimenter’s script |
| 1 | stop wach |
| 1 | Test A with correct answers circled for correcting |
| 1 | Treatment schedule |
| 1 | Test B with correct answers circled for correcting |
A. Preparing the tests
1. Choose 15 shapes for the subjects to memorize.
2. Make every shape a bright color, but un-colorize the shapes before
printing the last 12 copies.
3. Label this as “List A”. Print out 12 copies of this list in color,
and 12 more in black ink.
4. Choose 15 different shapes to act as distracters. Make every
shape a bright color.
5. Scramble the distracters randomly with the original shapes into
one large group.
6. Label this as “Test A”. Print 25 copies of this test. One will become
the experimenter’s correcting key, but the others are the actual memory
test for subjects to take.
7. On the correcting key, circle all shapes from “List A”-- the original
shapes, NOT the distracters.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 with the following changes:
a. All shapes must be new and different from those previously used
b. Both the List and Test are labeled “B” instead of “A”
B. Obtaining subjects
1. Distribute parent permission sheets to volunteers.
2. From students who return signed parent permission forms, randomly
select approximately 10 6th grade males, and approximately 10 6th grade
females. These are the subjects.
3. Create a treatment schedule with 4 different groups, and two different
days. The treatment schedule is enclosed in the appendix and on the following
page.
4. Randomly arrange 6 subjects per group.
C. Memorizing shapes
1. Gather the subjects in a certain group to the testing room. The
test should begin around 8:00.
2. Read instructions and answer questions.
3. Hand out the copies of the correct list using the treatment schedule
to determine which form (A or B) and which color is needed for this group.
4. Start a stopwatch for 3 1/2 minutes.
5. When the time is up, take the sheets from the subjects.
6. Dismiss the subjects.
7. Wait 30 minutes before gathering the same subjects again for the
test.
D. Giving the test
1. Gather the same subjects to the same room.
2. Hand out the copies of the correct test using the treatment schedule
to determine which form (A or B) and which color is needed for this group.
3. Start a stopwatch for 5 minutes. In that time, the subjects should
circle all the shapes they remember being on the list they tried to memorize
earlier in the day. If they circle more than 15, have them erase extras.
4. After 5 minutes, have students turn in the tests, finished or not.
E. Second treatment
1. Repeat procedure “C” except use correct form (A or B) and color
for this group for Day 2.
2. Repeat procedure “D” except use correct form (A or B) and color
for this group for Day 2.
F. Finishing up
1. Correct the tests by comparing them to the correcting copy.
2. Record scores on data sheet.
3. Average the scores for each separate group.
The original purpose of this experiment was to determine whether the color of printed shapes affected human memory.
The results of the experiment were that the average score on the colored test was slightly greater than that of the black and white test. The average of the colored scores were 14. 1, while the average score for the black and white test was 14. 0. On the first day of the experimenting subjects had a better overall average than day two. The average of day 1 was 14. 3, while the average of day two was 13. 9. The results also showed that test B was slightly harder than test A. Test B’s average was 13. 8, but test A’s average was 14. 4.
See the table and graph below.
My hypothesis was that 6th graders would remember more shapes if they were originally shown to them in color rather than in black and white.
The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted, because the color group remembered more than the black and white test. However, the increase was so small that it shouldn’t be concluded that using color is the best way to memorize information.
Because of the results of this experiment, I have some interesting ideas for future experiments:
- I wonder if the subjects read a short story with five or more colored words, if they would remember the words an hour later.
- I also wonder if the subjects weren’t told that they were to memorize the stimulus, regardless of what it is, if the test scores would be as high.
- I also wonder if I did the testing in a different location if the results would be so close to each other.
- It would be interesting to test whether boy’s or girl’s memory were affected more by color.
If I were to conduct this project again, I would have more subjects,
perhaps 36. I would also have twice as many shapes for them to memorize.
The time before taking the test would be an hour instead of half an hour,
and I would do the whole experiment a second time with different subjects.
I would make sure that everyone would at least try to memorize the shapes.
I would like to thank the following people for helping make my project possible:
- My parents for allowing me to look up information at home and for the great patience they showed to me.
- My teacher for helping me when I got stuck, and for helping me obtain my last subjects and helping me to get the experimenting done.
- The teachers of the 6th grade classes I used in my experiment for the patience they showed when I experimented and prepared for the experiment.
- My subjects for allowing me to use them in my experimenting, and for listening to instructions and following them.
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