The Effects of Different Colors

of Paper
on Student’s Memorization

Alangcao, Andrea May A.

Biñar, Jayra E.
Escobar, Janine Angelica B.
Sabio, Alexandria Mae C.
Introduction
 On average, a person’s mind can hold up between five to nine items at one
moment; any effort to try to hold more than that more than likely will result in
forgetting the “middle” items (Cowan, 2008)

 Low working memory skills constitute a high risk factor for underachievement of
students (Bastin, 2004)

 Students with low memory retention fail in many different activities on many
occasions because of these instances of failure to recall; students will struggle to
achieve normal rates of learning and so typically will make poor general academic
progress (Alloway, Gathercole, Kirkwood, & Elliott, 2007)
Introduction
 Color can be used in encoding strategies to enhance memory and recall (Benjamin,
2007).

 Colors can also play a positive role in affecting learners' cognitive retention
(Dzulkifli & Mustafar, 2013).

 Colors, if used properly, can benefit many people in improving their memory
retention and can help them in many ways. (Olurinola & Tayo, 2015)
INTRODUCTION
 Relevance of the Study:
 To know if color can increase memory retention
 This study is designed to help students improve academic competence, develop a creative
learning habit, and encourage them to use color as a tool that can help them to retain
information.
 It can aid students who have learning disabilities, and students who have trouble focusing,
especially those who have ADHD.
 It can aid younger students, preferably in the kinder and elementary level, to focus more
on their work rather than other factors in their environment.
 This study aims to yield results in which new ways in improving memory retention will be
revealed. In this case, studying with a bright color paper might be a great technique to
recall knowledge more accurately.
 Statement of the problem:
1. Which treatment group is most effective in increasing the memory retention of
undergraduate students?
2. Is there a significant difference between the scores of the three treatment conditions of
dark colored paper (red & blue), light colored paper (green & yellow) and neon colored
paper (pink & orange)?

 Hypothesis:
 There is no significant difference in the retention rate of subjects exposed to dark colored
paper, light colored paper and neon colored paper.
METHODS
 Research Design
 Between-subjects design
 Independent variable (IV): different color of the papers
 Dependent variable (DV): number of words the participants have memorized and recalled

 Research Participants
 36 participants (12 each group)
 2nd year college students of San Beda College Alabang
 15-19 y/o
 Normal and Corrected-to-normal eye vision

 Research Instruments
 Self-made questionnaire
 Ishihara Eye Test
 Preliminary Test
METHODS
 Research Procedure
 Screening Test
 Convenience sampling
 Informed Consent
 Randomly dividing the 36 participants in the three treatment condition
 The participants memorized 20 2-3 syllable words for 10 minutes
 A simple mathematical problem for 10 minutes
 A blank recall sheet for 5 minutes

 Statistical tool
 One-way ANOVA (Analysis of Variance)
RESULT & DISCUSSION
 Table 1

  N Mean Standard Deviation Standard Error Variance

Light-colored 12 19 1.414 0.426 2
Dark-colored 12 19.25 1.422 0.429 2.023
Neon-colored 12 19.58 0.669 0.202 0.447

 Analysis:
 The neon colored group produced the highest scores among the other treatment
conditions. Because it is said that you are more likely to remember bright colors because
of their ability to grab attention and it keeps you focused for a longer period of time
(Dzulkifli and Mustafar 2013).
RESULTS
 Table 2

Source: DF Sum of squares Mean square F - ratio

Between groups 2 2.05 1.025 0.688

Within groups 33 49.17 1.49  

TOTAL 35 51.22    

 Analysis:
 There is no significant difference between the effect of the color of paper on the student’s
memory.
 Huchendorf (2007)
 Le and Castillo (2009)
 Martinez, Oberle, and Thompson (2010)
CONLUSION and
RECOMENDATIONS
 Problems:
 Color selection
 Number of words and length of time to memorize
 Easy mathematical problems

 Recommendation:
 Psychology
 Advertising
 Marketing
 Education