Color can affect your decision making process. Color, like many forms of sensory input, has a way of influencing our daily lives. In fact, it is often used subliminally by corporations in order to sway your decision-making processes. Many scientific studies have shown that some colors provide more mental stimulation, therefore enhancing memory. This can be a good thing and a bad thing by affecting how easily your become distracted, what details you recall and what gets your attention in the first place.
White – The color white has been shown to cause problems in the ability to read for people suffering from dyslexia, a neurological problem that makes it difficult to process written words, regardless of how smart they are. Therefore, this negatively affects their ability to recall what they’ve read. The color white glares and can make words look like they’re moving. This phenomenon can be averted by using tinted glasses or by placing a sheet of colored plastic over the reading material.
Cooler Colors – Colors on the cool end of the spectrum, like blue and green, cause more relaxation and less stimulation. Studies have shown that when flash cards are provided in these colors, they were found to be far more effective simply because they’re calming. In addition, colors on the cool end of the light spectrum have been repeatedly found to encourage creativity.
Warm Colors – Studies have shown that placing information on warm-colored paper was more likely to improve participants’ ability to remember said information. Colors on the warmer end of the spectrum, such as yellow, orange and red, tend to be stimulating and easier to remember. In fact, stores and restaurants have been manipulating this fact for decades by using these colors on their signs. The human brain easily recalls these colors because they’re more easily noticed and often facilitate feelings of comfort or hunger.
Color vs. Monochrome – Things that are in black and white, also known as monochrome, have been found to be more difficult to remember than things that are in color. Numerous studies have determined that human subjects showed a greater mental response to images in natural color, such as photographs, than those that were presented in black and white.
Enjoy, Charli