Investigating the Contribution of Color on

Memory Performances

IB Psychology Standard Level Internal Assessment

IB Candidate Code:
Personal Code: hpc863
Groupmate: hpc922

Word Count: 2187

Date of submission: 2020 Jan. 14th

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Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Exploration 4

Analysis 6

Evaluation 8

References 10

Appendices 11

Appendix 1: Informed Consent for experiment in IB Psychology 11

Appendix 2: Raw Data Table 12
Appendix 3: Figures for Comparison between Two Groups 13
Appendix 4: Mann-Whitney U Test on Online Calculator 15
Appendix 5: Chosen Images (Colored) 16
Appendix 6: Online Questionnaire 18
Appendix 7: Debriefing Notes 18

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Introduction
Throughout history, psychologists were always trying to investigate the mechanism behind
human visual memory. With an extensive memory capacity of humans for storing visual
information, researchers became interested in investigating how cues from particular information
contribute to memorization. In specific, Wichmann and Sharpe (2002) were interested in how color
in pictorial information contributes to memory retention of pictures of different objects and scenes.
In their research, they aimed to study the effect of color and exposure duration on memorization.
In Wichmann and Sharpe’s experiment, there are two independent variables (IV): time
exposure of each image and the color of the image, and the dependent variable (DV) is the
memory performance that changes along IV. Participants were assigned to two groups, one group
was told to memorize colored images, and the other group would memorize black and white
images. For each group, participants should remember 48 images of natural scenes, including
natural landscapes, flowers, rocks, and artificial objects with independent variables of different
time exposures for each image. In each set of time exposure, there was an interval between every
two consecutive images. Later in the task, participants were asked to identify images (giving yes-no
response) he or she had seen during the first phase. The results were that there was a higher
performance in colored group for every exposure duration (IV), concluding that color information
does contribute to memory to an extent.
Interested in studying the relationship between early sensory processing and memory
performance for pictures, we decided to replicate this experiment in the field of cognitive
psychology. To carry out the procedure by investigating only one independent variable instead of
two, we have to moderate the experiment procedure. The IV is the color, either black and white or
colored pictures, that participants could view on the presentation, and the DV is the score of
correctness each participant receives after completing a questionnaire. This investigation aimed to
examine whether the color of images of natural scenes (city landscapes and countryside landscapes)
contributes to memory performances for participants among bilingual high school students in YK
Pao School.
The research hypothesis of this study was that the group of participants who were exposed
colored pictures display a better memory performance comparing to the other group of students who
were exposed to black and white pictures under the same time exposure duration for each image.
The null hypothesis is that there was no significant difference between the scores received by
colored group and black and white group. The results and conclusion of the experiment were
expected to reject the null hypothesis.

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Exploration
In order to measure one independent variable instead of multiple variables, we modified
the original experiment by changing the number of photos. Pilot study ensured that images of
artificial objects or images involving humans and animals are easily recognized as participants
could establish personal connections with them. Therefore, to reliably test the memory performance
of students, we decided to use two categories: countryside landscapes and city landscapes.
This experiment applied independent samples design, where participants were assigned to
two groups, one for each condition (IV). It would be appropriate to use this design as it is
appropriate for displaying a difference between the two groups. Repeated samples are not
applicable because significant differences won’t be shown in the result, as each participants would
be assigned to different conditions.
There were 25 students who were selected for the experiment via opportunity sampling.
This method contributed to an efficient experiment and also allowed the free-choice of participants
in terms of their willingness to take part. The chosen participants of this experiment are among IB
students aged from 16 to 18 years old. This age group was chosen because students under similar
ages are expected to have similar memory performances.

Material Used:
· Keynote slideshow, a computer-generated system that strictly controled the 0.5-seconds
exposure duration of photos and the time interval in between.
· 80 images in total through various websites, such as “Bing,” “Pinterest,” and “Unsplash.” Since
there are multiple sources of images, there are fewer possibilities that participants were familiar
with these images.
· Informed consent to eliminate any ethical considerations.
· “Quizizz”, an online questionnaire where participants can complete a test to receive a score on
their memory performances.

Experimental Procedure:
1. The experiment took place in an isolated meeting room in the school cafeteria.
2. Prepared the slideshow and the consent form before starting the experiment.
3. Selected 25 participants by opportunity.
4. Gave the instructions and the consent forms before participants formally took part in our
study.
5. Two participants who were assigned to different groups would enter the room.

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6. Memorize 40 images consist of 20 countryside landscapes and 20 city landscapes in two
separate slideshows (colored and black and white).
7. View the slideshows with a fixed exposure duration of each image of 0.5 seconds.
8. Complete an online questionnaire with 80 questions in total on the website “Quizizz” with no
time limits.
9. The questions in the questionnaire asked participants the question “did this picture appear,” and
participants chose between “Yes” or “No.”
10. Repeat procedure 4 to 9 for all participants.

The experiment involved many controlled variables. We first kept control of the number of
pictures as we gave the participants the exact 40 images they were asked to memorize; therefore,
the same memory capacity is tested in each group. Moreover, the sequence of each photo is kept the
same for every participant; thus, the primacy and recency effect of memory is the same for each
participant. We also kept control of the exposure duration of images by using keynote, since it is a
computer-generated program, it could strictly control the timing. By controlling these variables, the
reliability of the experiment could be ensured.

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Analysis

100

80
Mean Score (%)
60
63
57
40

20
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of Two Conditions
0
Graph 1: Comparison of Mean Scores between two conditions

After all participants completed the online questionnaire, 25 pieces of data was collected.
The score of each participant were calculated out of 100 percent. Descriptive statistics, such as
mean and standard deviation, were calculated for both groups. Mean are figures of central
tendency that gives the average performance of participants. By calculating the mean, we could
have a view on how they perform in general, minimizing the effect of anomalies. Standard
deviation is a measure of dispersion that measures the degree to which score different from the
mean. This helps us to get a sense of how spread the data are including any anomalies, to ensure the
reliability of results.

As shown in Graph 1, the colored group had a mean score of 62.62%, which was slightly
higher than black and white group with a 57.25% mean score. This supported the hypothesis that
color contributes to pictorial memorization. However, there was a great variation of results in each
group, with 7.23 for color group and 7.98 for black and white group, leading to an overlap in bars of
standard deviation. As shown in our raw data, the correctness of colorful photos and flowers had the
highest accuracy. Participants scored exceptionally well in photos involving distinctive colors or
characteristics. As shown in Figure 1 and 2 (Appendix 3), the accuracy of the picture of rose is
100% for all participants in the colored test. However, the accuracy is 42% in black and white
group. This specific example provides us an insight that participants can memorize images with
catchy and saturated color better, which supports the research hypothesis.
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 In other cases, we found out that recognizable shapes and composition of images also
contribute to memory performance. For instance, as shown in Figure 3 (Appendix 3), the only
significant features on this image is the rainbow. Participants would instantly recognize the image
with distinctive features, which increases their scores. As shown in Figure 4, even if there was no
color, the layout of the buildings was organized, so that participants would focus on remembering
those features given an extremely limited time. This explains why specific questions have much
higher accuracy than others. From this, we observed that not only color could influence the memory
performance of color, other features of graph could improve accuracy as well.
After the experiment, an inferential statistical test, Mann-Whitney U test, was used for
the ratio data of our experiment. This test was chosen because it is a nonparametric test that allows
the two IV groups to be compared without assuming that the data are normally distributed. It is
suitable for use when the sample size is relatively small, and it is also appropriate for independent
samples design that uses ratio data. As shown in the online calculator (Appendix 4), the
calculated U value was 48.5 and the critical value for U at p<.05 was U=47. Therefore, as the value
obtained was greater than the critical value, the difference in performance between the two groups
was insignificant and the null hypothesis was accepted. The conclusion, therefore, did not
necessarily support the one-tailed hypothesis that color information contributes to memory.

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Evaluation
Researchers in the original study found a greater difference between two conditions than we
did, and this may be due to a better controlled experimental condition or the difference in sampling
groups. We modified the following elements of the original experiment: the number of
participants, the image chosen, the exposure duration, and interval time. Though these
modifications would simplify the experiment procedure, but they could also disrupt the accuracy
and reliability of the data.
The researchers of the original experiment used adults as samples. However, we chose
teenage participants whose performances might be different to adults. Also, by sampling by
opportunity rather than choosing from students who share similar memory capabilities, we cannot
control participant variability. This is a major limitation for the independent sample design. With
different memory talents, the results may not show a clear distinction between groups. Therefore,
by using this design and choice of sampling, the participants might not be representative for the
whole population, and the data might not be generalized. However, this experiment was massively
simplified by using such design. Also, we tried to keep control of those variables by comparing the
mean score of all participants. Moreover, we chose 40 pictures of landscapes rather than artificial
objects to prevent any establishments of emotional connections with participants, which would
prevent exceptional memory performances.
The procedure of our experiment might also influence the result. For example, the time lag
to switch from the slideshow to the online questionnaire and the login process allowed memory to
fade as it do take at least 30 seconds. This negatively affected the accuracy of memory, and the
scores received accordingly. In addition, some participants mentioned that they feel nervous when
participating in an experimental environment. Moods of participants could greatly influence their
performance, and therefore the results might not accurately reflect the authentic performance of the
participant. We noticed that this was because the experiment took place in a meeting room in the
cafeteria. Noise came from the cafeteria are also significant enough to influence the performance of
participants.
More importantly, the materials including technology that we have used for the experiment
may also influence our results. We did not include the choice of “I am not sure” in the
questionnaire, so the participants might guess the answer even though they did not remember,
which might lead to an inaccurate reflection of memory performance. The selection of images
might also influence the results. The original experiment involved four categories of images,
including green landscapes with fields and trees, flowers, rock formations, and man-made objects
(Wichmann and Sharpe, 2002). However, we adjusted the categories and selected countryside
scenes and urban scenes. As reported by participants, the images we selected are very similar,
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which distracted their performance to a certain extent. However, one of the strengths of our study is
that landscape images were chosen with colorful characteristics; therefore, the differences in
accuracy between two groups were expected to be larger. Another strength for our material was that
we chose images that are difficult to discriminate, especially for natural landscapes where there is
no special features for participants to identify. This way, the experiment avoids ceiling effects.
Though the average score was lower comparing to the original experiment, difficult images allowed
much more potential from the participants.
In conclusion, though the data of our experiment was insignificant, it still supports the
hypothesis that color contributes to memory, due to the fact that the mean score of colored group is
higher. If we have a chance to conduct an experiment in the future, we can conduct it with an even
larger population and more informed procedure. We could also replicate other trials of Wichmann
and Sharpe’s experiment that investigates pictorial memories in terms of time exposure. For
example, we could try to moderate the exposure duration of each image to a longer time and
observe the effect of exposure duration to pictorial memorization. Other investigations using
alternative approaches to measure the contribution of color to memory retention using cognitive
facilitation, may also shed lights on the complex mechanisms of human memory.

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 References
Davidoff, J. (1991). Issues in the biology of language and cognition. Cognition through color.
Cambridge, MA, US: The MIT Press.
Mann-Whitney U Test Calculator. (n.d.). Retrieved January 10, 2020, from Social Science Statistics
website: https://www.socscistatistics.com/tests/mannwhitney/default3.aspx
Nickerson, R. S. (1965). Short-term memory for complex meaningful visual configurations: A
demonstration of capacity. Canadian Journal of Psychology, 19, 155–160.
Urban and Natural Scenes. (n.d.). Retrieved from Pinterest website: https://pinterest.com
Urban and Natural Scenes. (n.d.). Retrieved from Unsplash website:
https://unsplash.com/s/photos/urban-scenes
Wichmann, F.A., Sharpe, L.T., & Gegenfurtner, K.R. (2002). The contributions of color to
recognition memory for natural scenes. Journal of experimental psychology.Learning,
memory, and cognition, 28 3, 509-20.

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 Appendix 1. Informed Consent for Experiment in Psychology

Name:
Age:
Grade:
Dear volunteer, we are IB Psychology students in year 12, and you are about to participate in our
experiment. Please complete this informed consent form with your signature. This information, as well as the
experimental results of yours, will be anonymous and confidential. We will be conducting the experiment
through computer with slideshows and an online questionnaire that requires the participants to complete. The
experiment will last less than 10 minutes. Please read the following information regarding this experiment. If
you have any questions and concerns, please contact and ask the experimenters immediately.

If you agree to take part in this experiment, you should know that:
1. This experiment contains no psychological and physical harm to participants. We ask the participants to
keep calm without stress when participating in our experiment to make sure the results are valid without
external influences.
2. All results obtained will kept confidential and anonymous, which protects the privacy of participants.
3. Experimenters will debrief the experiment to participants after they complete all procedures.
Experimenters will inform participants all the conclusions made after the experiment is completed, and
we will explain the significance of those results via email.
4. The participants will come in order, please do not reveal any experiment procedures to other students, as
they might become a potential participant of our experiment.
5. You may stop participating in this experiment at any time if you feel uncomfortable. Please report to the
researchers at that point if you feel signs of uncomforted.

I, ____________, understand the nature of this experiment and I agree to participate in this experiment
voluntarily. I understand the procedure and the potential concerns of this experiment and promise I will not
reveal the procedures to others until the experiment is completed. I give the researchers the permission to use
my data as part of their research process.

Signature:______________________ Date:_________________

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 Table 3: Raw Data of Black and White Group

Table 2: Raw Data of Colored Group

Table 4: Raw Data Comparison of Two Groups

Appendix 2. Raw Data Table

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 Figure 1: Images with saturated color in Colored Group

Figure 2: The same image in Black and White Group

Appendix 3. Figures for Comparison between Two Groups

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 Figure 3: Images with distinctive feature in Colored Group

Figure 4: Images with unique layout in Black and White Group

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 Appendix 4. Mann-Whitney Test on Online Calculator1

1
https://www.socscistatistics.com/tests/mannwhitney/default3.aspx
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Appendix 5. Chosen Images (Colored)

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(Image adapted from Bing, Pinterest, Unsplash)

Appendix 6. Online Questionnaire

Colored Questionnaire: https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/5d9c934c7eba11001fb4c1d1

Black and White Questionnaire: https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/5d9d9f2610b57b001aa3fe35

(Note that the content of the two tests are similar, but we adjusted the screen color of devices so that
participants are only able to see black and white images in the B&W test.)

Appendix 7. Debriefing Notes

This study is a replication of Wichmann and Sharpe’s experiment, which intends to study the
contribution of color to visual memory. The conclusion of their study was that color contributes
positively to memorization. By using similar methodology of their experiment, our experiment
gives similar conclusion with different data collected.

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