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The Physiological Effect of Color on the Suppression of Human Aggression: Research on Baker-Miller Pink
Abstract
It is hypothesized that a newly discovered color, Baker-Miller Pink, has a measurable and predictable effect on reducing physiological variables associated with aggression in subjects of normal intelligence. Studies at one U.S. Naval correctional facility, two California county correctional centers, and two state and federal psychiatric hospitals confirm these preliminary findings. In several controlled university studies the effect has been found to be significant but the magnitude of effect small. The effect has also been seen in both the non-visually impaired, those color-blind, and some blind subjects, suggesting a physiological mechanism. The possible physiological processes believed to be involved are unknown, however, undetermined neurochemicals in the eye communicating with the hypothalamic center as suspected. A color swatch is available and mixing directions for the color are provided, as it has been found that the precise shade is essential in accurately assessing outcomes.
... The omnipresence of colors and their associations raises the question, if color can cause specific effects on humans' perception and behavior. In the 1970s Alexander Schauss proposed a pink hue, the later called Baker-Miller pink, which he regarded to unfold a broad impact on humans within 15 minutes exposure [1]- [2]: ...
... First observations with pink colored prison detention cells seemed to support these effects [2]. As a result, prison detention cells all over the world were painted with Baker-Miller pink [3]. ...
... In addition, as the color-in-context theory [9] proposes, psychological context plays an important role in color effects. Of course, the present laboratory setting differs completely from a real-life prison setting, for which Schauss [2] reported results of calming and aggression reducing effects of Baker-Miller pink. Nevertheless, this is not the first study which fails in replicating the proposed effects, even in the same context [3], arguing against a specific prison context effect. ...
Besides aesthetic aspects, color can have impact on human perception and behaviour. A special pink hue, the so-called Baker-Miller pink, is assumed to induce calming effects. In this study, we evaluated pink and white lighting conditions with N = 29 subjects, through tests of attention, measurements of skin conductance and emotional state ratings. With an exposure time of 15 minutes including measurements, no color effect was found in skin conductance and attentional performance. There was also no difference in ratings of emotional valence and arousal between the two lighting conditions. Although, subjects rated Baker-Miller pink light significantly less activating than white light. A significant sex effect showed that women preferred pink light more than men. These results indicate that there are indeed differences in subjective perception of white and Baker-Miller pink light although they cannot be found in objective measures of physiological and cognitive processes.
... blue and green), high wavelength colours (e.g. red, orange, and yellow) are more exciting and arousing, and induce elated mood states (Jacobs & Hustmyer Jr., 1974;Schauss, 1985). ...
... This result is in line with prior research that argues that the overall effect of packaging comes from all elements interacting with each other in a holistic manner (Orth & Malkewitz, 2008). However, the lack of a physiological effect of colours may seem inconsistent with the findings of prior studies that found colours produce emotional responses when measured with physiological measures (Jacobs & Hustmyer Jr., 1974;Schauss, 1985). A possible explanation is that in these studies the coloured stimuli were excessively overwhelming (e.g. ...
The perception of color is a fundamental cognitive feature of our psychological experience, with an essential role in many aspects of human behavior. Several studies used magnetoencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and electroencephalography (EEG) approaches to investigate color perception. Their methods includes the event-related potential and spectral power activity of different color spaces, such as Derrington-Krauskopf-Lennie and red-green-blue (RGB), in addition to exploring the psychological and emotional effects of colors. However, we found insufficient studies in RGB space that considered combining all aspects of EEG signals. Thus, in the present study, focusing on RGB stimuli and using a data-driven approach, we investigated significant differences in the perception of colors. Our findings show that beta oscillation of green compared to red and blue colors occurs in early sensory periods with a latency shifting in the occipital region. Furthermore, in the occipital region, the theta power of the blue color decreases noticeably compared to the other colors. Concurrently, in the prefrontal area, we observed an increase in phase consistency in response to the green color, while the blue color showed a decrease. Therefore, our results can be used to interpret the brain activity mechanism of color perception in RGB color space and to choose suitable colors for more efficient performance in cognitive activities.
Across the millennia, and across a range of disciplines, there has been a widespread desire to connect, or translate between, the senses in a manner that is meaningful, rather than arbitrary. Early examples were often inspired by the vivid, yet mostly idiosyncratic, crossmodal matches expressed by synaesthetes, often exploited for aesthetic purposes by writers, artists, and composers. A separate approach comes from those academic commentators who have attempted to translate between structurally similar dimensions of perceptual experience (such as pitch and colour). However, neither approach has succeeded in delivering consensually agreed crossmodal matches. As such, an alternative approach to sensory translation is needed. In this narrative historical review, focusing on the translation between audition and vision, we attempt to shed light on the topic by addressing the following three questions: (1) How is the topic of sensory translation related to synaesthesia, multisensory integration, and crossmodal associations? (2) Are there common processing mechanisms across the senses that can help to guarantee the success of sensory translation, or, rather, is mapping among the senses mediated by allegedly universal (e.g., amodal) stimulus dimensions? (3) Is the term ‘translation’ in the context of cross-sensory mappings used metaphorically or literally? Given the general mechanisms and concepts discussed throughout the review, the answers we come to regarding the nature of audio-visual translation are likely to apply to the translation between other perhaps less-frequently studied modality pairings as well.
Previous research has supported the use of virtual reality (VR) to decrease stress, anxiety, perceptions of pain, and increase positive affect. However, the effect of VR on blood pressure (BP) and autonomic function in healthy populations have not been explored. This study quantifies the effect of instructed meditation augmented by a virtual environment (VE) on BP and heart rate variability (HRV) during rest and following physical (isometric handgrip) or mental (serial sevens subtraction) stress. Sixteen healthy participants underwent all conditions, and those that responded to the stress tests were included in the analysis of stress recovery. Results showed that under resting conditions, VE had no significant effect on BP or HRV when compared to seated rest and the VE video on a 2D screen. Following serial sevens, VE maintained the increased low frequency (LF) power of HRV $( 66 \pm 4$ normalized units (n.u.)) compared to seated rest $( 55 \pm 5\mathrm {n}$.u., $\mathrm {p}=0.0060)$; VE maintained the decreased high frequency (HF) power of HRV $( 34 \pm 4\mathrm {n}$.u.) compared to seated rest $( 44 \pm 5\mathrm {n}$.u., $\mathrm {p}=0.014)$; and VE maintained the increased LF/HF ratio $( 2.4 \pm 0.5)$ compared to seated rest $( 1.6 \pm 0.3$, $\mathrm {p}=0.012)$. Hence, after mental stress, VE sustains the increased sympathetic drive and reduced parasympathetic drive. VE may act as a stimulatory driver for autonomic activity and BP. Further studies are required to investigate the effect of different types of VE on BP and autonomic function.
Folklore has it that ambient color has the power to relax or arouse the observer and enhance performance when executing cognitive tasks. We picked a number of commercially available colors that allegedly have the power to alter cognitive performance and the emotional state, and exposed subjects to them while solving a battery of cognitive tasks. The colors were “Cool Down Pink”, which is said to produce relaxing effects and reduce effort, “Energy Red”, allegedly enhancing performance via increased arousal, “Relaxing Blue”, which is said to enhance attention and concentration, as well as white as a control. In a between-subjects design, a total of 170 high school students carried out five tasks (number series completion, mental rotation, and memory for word categories, word pairs, and geometrical figures) while exposed to one of the four colors. The emotional state of the subjects was measured before the beginning and at the end of the experiment. The ambient colors did not have the predicted effects, neither on cognitive performance nor on the emotional state of the participants.
Previous studies on emotional effects of color often failed to control all the three perceptual dimensions of color: hue, saturation, and brightness. Here, we presented a three-dimensional space of chromatic colors by independently varying hue (blue, green, red), saturation (low, medium, high), and brightness (dark, medium, bright) in a factorial design. The 27 chromatic colors, plus 3 brightness-matched achromatic colors, were presented via an LED display. Participants (N = 62) viewed each color for 30 s and then rated their current emotional state (valence and arousal). Skin conductance and heart rate were measured continuously. The emotion ratings showed that saturated and bright colors were associated with higher arousal. The hue also had a significant effect on arousal, which increased from blue and green to red. The ratings of valence were the highest for saturated and bright colors, and also depended on the hue. Several interaction effects of the three color dimensions were observed for both arousal and valence. For instance, the valence ratings were higher for blue than for the remaining hues, but only for highly saturated colors. Saturated and bright colors caused significantly stronger skin conductance responses. Achromatic colors resulted in a short-term deceleration in the heart rate, while chromatic colors caused an acceleration. The results confirm that color stimuli have effects on the emotional state of the observer. These effects are not only determined by the hue of a color, as is often assumed, but by all the three color dimensions as well as their interactions.
Our work examines the role of workplace design as an enabler of creative innovative work. We assume that competitive pressures to innovate and adapt to changes create a stressful reality accompanied by negative emotions for many employees. We argue that while such emotions have to be managed in order to achieve organizational goals, management often fails to provide effective and satisfactory solutions in this area. We therefore ask if workplace design can enable this 'emotion management' challenge and consequently enhance creativity and adaptation to change. Building on the design literature that sees design as tasked with creating contexts for positive experiences we offer a preliminary insight into the ways by which workplace design can generate such context acting as a persuasive artifact that invites people to engage by stimulating their interest and imagination and facilitating and accommodating their contributions. More specifically, we examine the potency of color as a design lever to eliciting desired individual emotions. While we peel off the outer layer of the 'design as a creator of context for positive experience' phenomenon, we conclude that additional research is needed to further reinforce the notion of design as a creator of desired context for experience and identify the means and levers by which such aim is achieved.
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