Colored Memory
CSEF · 2008 Cognitive Science (Junior Division Only)
Overview
Objectives/Goals The objective of my project was to determine if the color of the printed word has any affect on a person's ability to remember it. I believe that it will. Methods/Materials I developed two lists of words. List #1 had 40 words. I selected the words from a standard list of 4th grade reading words. 20 words were printed in red; 20 in black. I created a second list (list #2) by choosing 10 of the red words and 10 of the black words from list #1 and adding 20 new words. All the words on list #2 were typed in black. I gave list #1 to 40 sixth grade students to read for 1 minute. After a 5 minute break, I gave the same students list #2 and asked them to circle all of the words they remembered from list #1. I then analyzed my data by creating a graph and doing a simple "t" test. Results Based on the information I gathered, it didn't show that there was a significant difference in a person's memory based on the color the word was printed in. I analyzed my data even further by performing the necessary steps to perform a simple "t" test. After completing this, I concluded that my experiment did not hold any statistical significance. My testing population was too small. Conclusions/Discussion My initial hypothesis was incorrect - at least based on this one experiment. The conclusion might have been different had I tested more subjects. I still believe that colored words and/or passages will affect a person's ability to recall the information. I want to continue this experiment, building a larger testing pool, testing different colors, and using colored words within a passage that has context to see if any of these things might make a difference. If highlighting certain words and/or ideas in color really can improve a person's ability to remember the information, it could make a significant impact on the way we learn.
Summary statement
This project attempts to determine if the color of a printed word affects a person's ability to remember it.
Help received
Mother helped by consulting; school psychologist taught me how do do the "t" test
Competition history
- CSEF 2008
Resources
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Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects