The influence of colour on memory performance: a review.

Human cognition involves many mental processes that are highly interrelated, such as perception, attention, memory, and thinking. An important and core cognitive process is memory, which is commonly associated with the storing and remembering of environmental information. An interesting issue in memory research is on ways to enhance memory performance, and thus, remembering of information. Can colour result in improved memory abilities? The present paper highlights the relationship between colours, attention, and memory performance. The significance of colour in different settings is presented first, followed by a description on the nature of human memory. The role of attention and emotional arousal on memory performance is discussed next. The review of several studies on colours and memory are meant to explain some empirical works done in the area and related issues that arise from such studies.

[1]  Richard H. Hall,et al.  The impact of web page text-background colour combinations on readability, retention, aesthetics and behavioural intention , 2004, Behav. Inf. Technol..

[2]  Margaret C Jackson,et al.  Enhanced visual short-term memory for angry faces. , 2009, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[3]  S. Kaplan,et al.  Paired-associate learning as a function of arousal and interpolated interval. , 1963, Journal of experimental psychology.

[4]  Yi Pan,et al.  Attentional capture by working memory contents. , 2010, Canadian journal of experimental psychology = Revue canadienne de psychologie experimentale.

[5]  K. Gegenfurtner,et al.  The contributions of color to recognition memory for natural scenes. , 2002, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[6]  M. A. Dzulkifli,et al.  Students of Low Academic Achievement - Their Personality, Mental Abilities and Academic Performance: How Counsellor Can Help? , 2012 .

[7]  Claire Allison Stammerjohan,et al.  BANNER ADVERTISER-WEB SITE CONTEXT CONGRUITY AND COLOR EFFECTS ON ATTENTION AND ATTITUDES , 2005 .

[8]  I. Spence,et al.  How Color Enhances Visual Memory for Natural Scenes , 2006, Psychological science.

[9]  J. Stoner,et al.  Color Vision in Alzheimer’s Patients: Can We Improve Object Recognition With Color Cues? , 2003 .

[10]  Charles E. Osgood,et al.  A Cross-Cultural Study of the Affective Meanings of Color , 1973 .

[11]  A. Wilkins,et al.  Case Report: Color as a Therapeutic Intervention , 2009, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[12]  Daniel Smilek,et al.  Synesthetic Color Experiences Influence Memory , 2002, Psychological science.

[13]  Thomas C. Greene,et al.  Coloring the environment: Hue, arousal, and boredom , 1983 .

[14]  Frank H. Farley,et al.  Arousal and Cognition: Memory for Color Versus Black and White Multimedia Presentation , 1976 .

[15]  T. Lloyd-Jones,et al.  Independent effects of colour on object identification and memory , 2009, Quarterly journal of experimental psychology.

[16]  D. Vernon,et al.  The Role of Colour in Implicit and Explicit Memory Performance , 2003, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[17]  D. G. MacKay,et al.  Emotion, Memory, and Attention in the Taboo Stroop Paradigm , 2005, Psychological science.