Stem fair Project

Can color affect Memory?

Scientific Question
"How does whether a list of words is in color or black and white affect the
number of words a person can remember?"
BackGround
For my science fair project, I am studying how reading different colors of
font affect how many words a person can remember. I chose this project
because I think it is really interesting and because I always wondered
what would be a better way to study for a spelling test. Now I know what I
should use when I am studying. In my background research I will discuss
how memory is made, how we see colors, and how might the color of a
word affect how it is memorized.
Hypothesis
My hypothesis for my experiment was that the average number of words
in color that people remember will be greater than the average number of
words that people remember in black and white.
Materials
The materials I used for my project were:

-34 students
-A watch
-Blank pieces of paper for students to write The words they remember
-Four copies of list A printed in black and white
-Four copies of list A printed with each word a different color
-Four copies of list B printed in black and white
-Four copies of list B printed with each word a different color
Procedures
1.Collect a set of participants List 5.Give the people their cards and
these participants. give them a certain amount of cards.

6.let them say it out loud and give

2.Get index cards,and write names of them a certain amount of time.
color in different color.

3.Write it in black or in color and have

more than one index.

4.Separate the people in different

group
Variables
The independent variable in my experiment was whether the words in the list
were in color or black and white.

The dependent variable in my experiment was the number of words a person

can remember.

The control variables (the variables I kept the same) were number of words in
each list, the total number of letters in each list, the level of difficulty of the
words on each list, and the amount of time given to memorize each list.
Explanation

The results show that the average number of words memorized in black and
white is greater than the average number of words memorized in color.
I performed a paired two-tailed t-test to see if the difference was.

It is possible that the average number of words memorized in black and white
is greater than the average number in color because the color was a
distraction for the students. In other words, the students might have been
concentrating on the color instead of memorizing the words.
Conclusion

A possible follow-up experiment might be to see if it will be easier to

remember words that are usually associated with a certain color, if they are
printed in that color. For example I could print one list with words such as
"apple," "banana," and "leaf." One copy of the list, the word "apple" will be
printed in red , "banana" in yellow, and "leaf" in green. I will print another list
with the same words but "apple" would be yellow, "banana" would be green,
and "leaf" would be red. As a control, I would print a list with words printed
in black and white. That way I will see if it is easy to memorize a word if it is
associated with a color or if the color would still be a distraction.
Research Pt.1
What part of the brain sees color and which
one makes memory?
The brain has different parts that are
responsible for various functions. The part of
the brain that is in charge of visual
processing, like seeing shapes and color, is
the occipital lobe, which is located at the
back of the brain. If you damage the occipital
lobe, it can cause visual problems. The parts
of the brain that are in charge of memory are
the temporal lobes. The right temporal lobe
is involved in visual memory. The temporal
lobe is located at the height of the ears.
How does memory work?
When a human brain receives information by
visual, auditory, or other sensory channels, it
decides if the information is important. If it is,
it saves it. Patterns of connection between
different neurons,form a memory. There are
two types of memory, short term memory
and long term memory. Short term memory
is the ability of saving something for a small
amount of time, it could be just seconds.
Short term memory can hold about four to
nine items. Long term memory has the ability
to save information forever.
Research Pt.2
How might the color of a word affect how it is memorized?

According to Dr. Bijan Pesaran, Assistant Professor of Neural Science at New York
University, there are two possible ways that the color of a word could affect how well it
is memorized. One of the ways is if the color the word is printed in is associated with
the meaning of the word. For example, if the word "apple" is printed in red, a person
can use that to help them memorize it. This is a mnemonic, which is a way to help
memorize something better. Another way the color can affect how a word is
memorized is if the color is a distraction. In other words the person will be looking at
the color instead of memorizing the words. This will make it more difficult to memorize
the word.

In my project I tried to find out if the color was a distraction or if it helped the subjects