| Effect of
Word Meaning on Ability of 7th Graders to State a Word’s Color |
Researched by Bryanna B.
2003-04 |
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PURPOSE
The first purpose of this experiment was to determine whether a word’s
meaning interferes with the ability of seventh grade boys and girls to
state the word’s color.
The second purpose of this experiment was to determine whether a word’s
meaning interferes with seventh grade boys more than girls.
I became interested in this idea when I was showing my family how the
color wheel works. It did not seem to be confusing when I color coordinated
it correctly. I wondered if color also affects how seventh grade boys and
girls see things only using words, not a wheel.
The information gained from this experiment can be useful for researchers,
educators, advertisers, and anyone interested in human attention.
HYPOTHESIS
My first hypothesis was that for both seventh grade boys and girls,
conflicting word meaning would slow the subjects’ ability to say the word.
My second hypothesis was that the seventh grade girls would on average
be able to state the conflicting word’s color faster than the seventh grade
boys on all three word sets.
My third hypothesis was that on average both seventh grade boys and
girls would be faster at saying word set number one than word set number
two and three.
I based my first hypothesis on an Internet site that stated, “In the
Stroop effect, naming the color of an incompatible word color is much slower
and more error-prone.” You can find this at http://www.ask.com when you
ask, “Does the color of a word make you say the color slower?”
I based my second hypothesis on an Internet site that stated, “Girls
did significantly better than boys on the Stroop Color-Word test.” You
can also find this at http://www.ask.com when you ask, “Does the stroop
effect affect girls more than boys?”
I based my third hypothesis on the fact that in word set number one
the color word is correct so there is no interference where on word set
number two and three there is interference.
EXPERIMENT DESIGN
The constants in this study were:
* The amount of words in word set number one (25)
* The amount of words in word set number two (25)
* The amount of words in word set number three (25)
* The colors and the words on word set one
* The colors and the words on word set two
* The colors and the words on word set three
* The grade of the subjects (seventh)
* The testing room
* The time of the day
* The tests that each student took
* Instruction sheet
* Color of paper (white)
* Type and size of the font used
The manipulated variable was whether the words to be read were in conflict
with their ink color.
The responding variable was the average amount of time it took the students
to state the color of the word.
To measure the responding variable I had the students state the color
of the words on the word tests that I created while I recorded their time
with a stopwatch.
MATERIALS
| QUANTITY | ITEM DESCRIPTION |
| 15 | Seventh grade girls |
| 15 | Seventh grade boys |
| 1 | Laminated copy of word set number one. |
| 1 | Laminated copy of word set number two. |
| 1 | Laminated copy of word set number three. |
| 1 | Laminated copy of the instructions |
| 1 | Stopwatch |
| 60 | Parent permission slips |
PROCEDURES
1. Create word set one, two, and three along with an instruction sheet.(see
Appendix)
2. Send out permission slips to the students.
3. Once they are returned, randomly select the students.
4. Arrange a time with teacher to do the experiment with the students.
5. Bring one student into the room.
6. Read the instructions to the student.
7. Give the student word set number one and start timing.
8. As soon as the student finishes saying the colors stop timing and
record the data.
9. Give the student word set number two and start timing.
10. As soon as the student finishes saying the colors stop timing and
record the data.
11. Give the student word set number three and start timing.
12. As soon as the student finishes saying the colors stop timing and
record the data.
13. Have the student go back to class.
14. Repeat steps 5-13 on the rest of the subjects.
RESULTS
The first original purpose of this experiment was to determine whether
a word’s meaning interferes with the ability of seventh grade boys and
girls to state the word’s color.
The second original purpose of this experiment was to determine whether
a word’s meaning interferes with seventh grade boys more than girls.
The results of the experiment were that on average both boys and girls
were fastest at Word Set #1 followed by Word Set #2 then Word Set #3. The
girls were faster on all three of the Word Sets than the boys. On Word
Set #1 the girls on average took 13.31seconds, the boys took 15.25 seconds,
and the overall average was 14.28. The average for the second word set
for girls was 23.77, for the boys it was 24.78, and the overall average
was 24.27 seconds. On the third word set the girls took 29.96 seconds,
the boys took 31.39 seconds, and the overall average was 30.68 seconds.
See the table and graphs below.
CONCLUSION
My first hypothesis was that for both seventh grade boys and girls,
conflicting word meaning would slow the subjects’ ability to say the word.
The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted. On average,
Word Set #1 required14.28 seconds. The second word set took 24.27 seconds
and the third took 30.68 seconds. The first Word Set had no conflicting
word meaning but the other two did.
My second hypothesis was that the seventh grade girls would on average
be able to state the conflicting word’s color faster than the seventh grade
boys on all three word sets.
The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted. On Word
Set #1 the girls averaged 13.31 seconds, Word Set #2 was 23.77 seconds,
and Word Set #3 was 29.96 seconds. The boys took 15.25 seconds for the
first set, 24.78 for the second, and 31.39 seconds for the third.
My third hypothesis was that on average both seventh grade boys and
girls would be faster at saying word set number one than word set number
two and three.
The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted because
on average the boys and girls were fastest at Word Set #1(14.28sec.) than
they were a Word Sets#2 and #3.(#2=24.27sec. #3=30.68sec.)
Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if different ages
of students would make a difference. I also wonder if practice at overcoming
the conflicting meaning would reduce the effect..
If I were to conduct this project again I would use many more subjects,
more Word Set’s and I would have more words in a Word Set.
RESEARCH REPORT
Introduction
All humans have the need to see and learn. Color plays a role in
sight and in learning. It serves for communication but can also influence
what we read and say. What humans pay attention to follows a hierarchy.
The “most important” stimuli will take one’s attention away from others.
Color
Color serves for communication (in sports, traffic lights, maps)
and plays a big part in nature. We don’t really see color but we see light
that objects reflect or give off. Our eyes absorb the light, change it
to signals, and then the brain can tell its color. The most common pigment
colors are called the primary colors. They are red, blue and yellow. Color
also has certain characteristics. The three basic one,s are called hue,
lightness, and chroma. Hue is the property that gives the colors names.
Lightness is a measurement of the amount of light reflected from an object
and chroma is concentration of a color.
The Use of Color in Learning
Color influences learning. One way to use color in learning
is by color-coding. Color-coding helps organize information so that a student
can recognize more information. Color counts in the learning process and
improves accuracy of recall. Students can recognize more things when they
are colored rather than black and white. Color improves accuracy and helps
in learning. Learning is also better if someone wants to learn and motivates
him or herself to do so.
Color Blindness
Color blindness is a disorder in the eyes that makes people less
able to tell colors apart. It is sometimes called daltonism. Very few are
truly color blind, which is when a person only sees white, gray, and black.
More males are color blind than females. About 80 in 1,000 males are color
blind and about 5 in 1,000 females are color blind. There is no cure for
color blindness but people can test for it by putting colored dots together
to form a shape. Color blind people may not see the shape or see the wrong
shape. Color blindness is inherited.
Stroop Effect
“The Stroop Effect is a type of cognitive interference first described
by Dr. J.R. Stroop in 1935. The Stroop Effect is an increase in reaction
time evident when a subject has to identify one stimulus property that
conflicts with a more salient stimulus property. For example, if the word
‘blue’ is written in red ink, a subject will have a hard time identifying
the ink color.”
<http://www.brainconnection.com/gen/gloss.html#s>
The Stroop Effect involves cognitive interference, which is when
one brain process may conflict with another process. This is what the Stroop
Effect helps show, the hierarchy or importance our brain places on various
stimuli.
Human Eye
An eye is an organ of sight. We use sight in almost everything
that we do. It is known to be our best of the five senses. A human
eyeball is about 25mm in diameter. It sees objects both far and close.
Some of the many defects of the eye are called nearsightedness, farsightedness,
astigmatism, strabismus, and color blindness. Some diseases are called
cataract, glaucoma, sty, chalazion, conjunctivitis, and subconjunctival
hemorrhage. The eye is made up of several parts. Some of those parts are
called the rods and cones, the cavity, the eyelids, eyelashes, and a clear
slimy fluid called mucus.
How we See
The process of sight is called accommodation. The process starts
with light rays entering the eye from an object that reflects or gives
off light. The light goes through the cornea then to the pupil. Next the
light goes through to the retina so that a person can see the object. The
retina is the innermost layer of the wall of the eyeball. It is as fragile
as a wet tissue paper. The retina absorbs light rays then changes it into
electric signals.
Reading
Reading is a process that starts with our eye’s movements, which
perceive the stimuli. These movements are called saccadic movements. Our
eyes will pause to get the word’s meaning, which is called fixations. They
will sometimes reread a word, which is called regression. Most readers
though are unaware of all these eye movements. After the eyes have seen
the stimuli then the nerve cells in our eyes will send the stimuli to the
center of the brain. It is known that people who have been reading a long
time tend to understand what they read faster then newer readers. Most
people learn to read at about age six but some are not good readers until
about age eight.
Reading Disorders
There are some reading disorders. One is called dyslexia. Dyslexia
makes a person see words upside down or backwards. Some people can’t read
because of four different problems. One of them is called atliteracy, which
happens when a person has a lack of desire to read or avoids it. The second
problem that a person can create is called failure to concentrate which
is a student cannot understand what they are reading. The third problem
that is created by the reader is called insufficient experience, which
occurs when the reader does not have many reading experiences. The fourth
and final reading problem that humans have are physical disabilities in
their brain, vision, or hearing.
Human Brain
The brain is the control center of the body. It is grayish-pink in
color. It constantly receives and rapidly analyzes information. The brain
sends messages to the body that control it’s actions and functions. The
human body has certain blood vessels that give the brain the oxygen and
food it requires. The human brain reaches its full weight (1.4 kilograms)
by the time the person is six years of age. No two brains are exactly alike
but they all require about 20% of a person’s oxygen supply. The brain has
no pain receptors so it does not directly feel pain.
Parts of the Human Brain
There are three main parts to the human brain: the cerebrum, cerebellum,
and the brain stem.
The cerebrum is made up of three parts. One is a large groove that is
connected by nerve fibers and separates the other two parts of the cerebrum,
the right and left hemispheres. Each hemisphere has a frontal lobe, a temporal
lobe, a pariental lobe, and an occipital lobe. Each lobe does a different
function.
The second part of the brain is called the cerebellum. The cerebellum
is responsible for balance, coordination of movement, and posture. It is
located below the back of the cerebrum. The cerebellum is made up of a
mass of closely packed bundles of nerve cells called folia.
The third part to the brain is called the brain stem. It is a stalk
like figure that connects the cerebrum with the spinal cord. The bottom
of the brain stem, the medulla oblongata, controls the breathing, heartbeat,
and other things of that sort. Above the medulla are things called pons.
Pons connect the two hemispheres of the cerebrum and right above the pons
is the midbrain, which controls all the eye movements.
Light
Light makes seeing possible. It helps plants produce food and heats
the earth. People can both make and use light. Atoms, that have energy
from absorbing light from other sources or particles, produce light. Light
is a wave and photon. A photon moves in a straight line. Light is made
of waves. The shortest and fastest wave that humans can see is violet and
the longest and slowest is red while all the other colors are in-between.
Waves too short to see are ultraviolet rays which cause sunburn, suntan,
and skin cancer.
Summary
Color and reading play a part in every-day life. They help humans
learn and improves accuracy. |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cardoso, Silvia Helena. “Human Memory: What it is and How to Improve
It.”10/21/03 http://www.epub.org.br/cm/n01/memo/memory.htm
“Color, Colors?” 11/20/03 http://faculty02.u.washington.edu/chudler/word.html
Farr, Roger.“Reading.” World Book Encyclopedia. 1998.
Foley, Hugh J. “Perception (psychology).” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia.
2001
Freudenrich, Craig C. “Brain Parts.” 10/21/03 http://science.howstuffworks.com/brain2.htm
Goldburg, Morton E. “Eye.” World Book Encyclopedia 1999.
Gummess, Glen. “The Use of Color in Teaching and Learning.”11/18/03
http://www.stfrancis.edu/cid/Colors/color1.htm
Horwitz, Leonard M. “Learning.” World Book Encyclopedia 1998.
Jones, Ira Snow. “Eye(anatomy).”.10/9/03 http:encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/retarticle.aspt?refid=761564189
Restak, Richard. “Brain.” World Book Encyclopedia. 1999.
Tripathi, Ramesh C. and Brenda J. “Color.” World Book Encyclopedia 1999.
Walker, Jearl. “Light.” World Book Encyclopedia 1998.
“What is a Good Survey to Find out if Boys are Smarter then Girls?”
11/25/03 http://www.ask.com
“What is Colorblindness and Different Types.” 10/21/03 http://members.aol.com/nocolorvsn/color2.htm
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the following people for helping make my project
possible:
* I would like to thank Mr. Newkirk for helping so much in my
project and providing after-school classes.
* I would like to thank Mrs. Helms for also helping me a lot and taking
pictures.
* I would like to thank all of my subjects for participating in my
science project.
* I would also like to thank all of the teachers who allowed me to
take their students out of class to participate in this project.
* Finally, I would like to thank my parents and friends for also helping
me a lot in this year’s project.
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