Does Red Background Color Enhance Short-term Memory or Blue?

Abstract

Objective: Having in mind the fact that sports performance is done in environments with different colors, environment color, as one of the environmental constraints, can affect attention, acquisition, learning and also memory. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of cold, warm, neutral and favorite colors on short-term memory. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 24 male and female students of the Faculty of Physical Education, University of Tehran, with an age range of 22 ± 1.64 participated. Tachistoscope of RT-887 model, produced by Sina Institute of Behavioral Sciences, was used to measure sensory and short-term memory. Results: The result of analysis of variance with repeated measures showed that cold background color resulted in better short-term memory recall than other colors (P≥0.05). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, color, probably, can be considered as one of an environmental factor leading to short term memory improvement. Therefore, it is suggested that cold colors are used in cognitive learning for emphasizing on short term memory.