Content uploaded by M. Faiz Mustafar
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by M. Faiz Mustafar on Jul 04, 2014
Content may be subject to copyright.
www.mjms.usm.my © Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2013
For permission, please email:mjms.usm@gmail.com
Abstract
Human cognition involves many mental processes that are highly interrelated, such as
perception,attention,memory,andthinking.Animportantandcorecognitiveprocessismemory,
which is commonly associated with the storing and remembering of environmental information.
An interesting issue in memoryresearchis on ways to enhance memory performance, and thus,
rememberingofinformation.Cancolourresultinimprovedmemoryabilities?Thepresentpaper
highlightstherelationshipbetweencolours,attention,andmemoryperformance.Thesignicance
ofcolourindifferentsettingsispresentedrst,followedbyadescriptiononthenatureofhuman
memory.The role of attention and emotional arousal on memory performance is discussed next.
Thereviewofseveralstudiesoncoloursandmemoryaremeanttoexplainsomeempiricalworks
doneintheareaandrelatedissuesthatarisefromsuchstudies.
Keywords: attention, colour, long term, mental recall, short term
Introduction
Memory refers to the mental process of
encoding,retaining,andretrievingenvironmental
information(1).Howthehumancognitivesystem
dealswiththememorizationprocessremainsthe
centreofresearchamongcognitivepsychologists.
One of the most interesting and challenging
questions in contemporary memory research is
onwaystoenhancehumanmemoryperformance.
Manyvariableshavebeenproposedtocontribute
totheretrievaloperationsandoneofthevariables
is colour, which will be discussed thoroughly in
thepresentpaper.
Colourisbelievedtobethemostimportant
visual experience to human beings (2). It
functions as a powerful information channel to
thehumancognitivesystemandhasbeenfound
to play a signicant role in enhancing memory
performance (3). Colour can be very effective
in learning and educational setting, marketing,
communication, or even sport. For instance,
a marketing study has found that colour can
increase brand recognition by up to 80% (4).
Most advertisements use colour as one of the
important element in inuencing people’s
attention, attitude towards the product, and
pressuring decision making (5). According to
White (6), coloured advertisements can attract
people to read the advertisement up to 42%
moreoftenthanthenon-colouredadvertisement.
This shows the importance of colour in making
the information or message more attractive to
thepublic.
In the educational setting, higher demand
is put on excellent academic achievement. The
extent to which students utilize their cognitive
abilitiesisalsoimportantandmaycontributeto
better academic achievement (7). The cognitive
abilities of the students refer to the way the
students perceive, pay attention, remember,
think, and understand the lessons. There need
to be strategies to facilitate the learning process
andcolourscanplayaroleinmotivatingstudents
to learn and prot from their educational
experiences.
In addition, in the clinical setting, specic
interventionsinvolvingcolourscanbeintroduced
to deal with memory-related problems such as
learning difculty, autism, dyslexia, and others.
With the use of colour in the intervention, it
can help patients to follow and understand the
learning program better. Clinical intervention
for patients with dyslexia using colour have
been proven to be effective in reducing patient
difcultiesin reading (8). The sameapproach is
alsousedtohelpautisticpatients.Animprovement
of reading speed up to 35% was reported for
autisticpatientsreadingusingacolouredoverlay
compared to autistic patients reading without
using a coloured overlay (9). Colour is also
used to treat patients with Alzheimer Disease.
Alzheimer Disease is a neurodegenerative form
ofdementiawhichdeterioratesmemoryabilities
Review Article
The Inuence of Colour on Memory
Performance: A Review
Mariam Adawiah Dzulkifli, Muhammad Faiz Mustafar
Department of Psychology, International Islamic University Malaysia,
Jalan Gombak, 53100 Selangor, Malaysia
Submitted:7Jan2012
Accepted: 11Feb2013
3
Malays J Med Sci. Mar-May 2013; 20(2): 3-9
4 www.mjms.usm.my
Malays J Med Sci. Mar-May 2013; 20(2): 3-9
(10). Recently, there is a growing interest in
the role of the non-biological or environmental
factors associated with Alzheimer Disease (11).
Thus,theuseofcolourstoimprovethememory
performance of Alzheimer Disease patients can
be practised. In fact, research has shown that
vividcolourcuescan helptoenhance the short-
termmemoryperformanceofAlzheimerDisease
patients(12).
A plethora of studies have been conducted
to understand the role of colour in enhancing
memory performance. Back in 1976, Farley and
Grant conducted experiments on the inuence
of colour on attention and found that coloured
multimedia presentations resulted in better
attention and memory performance (13). More
experimental works exploring the inuence of
colour on the human cognitive processes were
conductedsincethen(14–16).
Models of Human Memory
Humanmemoryiscommonlydichotomised
toinvolveashort-termandlonger-termmemory
storage. This dualistic nature of memory was
proposed by the early investigators of memory,
suchasWilliamJames,andWaughandNorman
(17).ThemodelproposedbyWaughandNorman,
retainedtheconceptofaprimaryandasecondary
memory originally proposed by William James.
Theirmodelwasregardedastherstbehavioural
modelofmemoryduetoitsquantifyingproperties
of primary memory (17). The earlier work on
memorywaswellextended toleadtoone ofthe
inuentialmodelsofthehumanmemorysystem
proposed Atkinson and Shiffrin (18). In their
model, memory is made up of three structures;
sensory register store, short-term store, and
long-termstore. Environmental stimuli will rst
reach the sensory register store. This memory
storecanregisterahugeamountofinformation,
buttheinformationisretainedthereverybriey.
Informationthatissubjecttoacertainamountof
attentionis then movedto the short-term store.
Informationwillbetransferred tothelong-term
store for more permanent storage as a result of
varioustypesofcontrolprocesses.Itissaidthat
theuseofcontrolprocessessuchasmaintenance
and elaborative rehearsal, heuristic, or other
memorization strategies are important to allow
theinformationtobetransferredfromtheshort-
termstoretolong-termstore.
An alternative to the model of memory
proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin is the model
proposedbyCraikandLockhart(19).Theyargued
thattheprocessesinvolvedinmemoryweremore
important than the structures of the memory
system.Thememoryprocessesareassumedtobe
onacontinuum,fromshallowsensoryprocessto
adeepersemanticmemoryprocess.Theshallow
memory processes involve a basic and surface
analysisoftheinformation, such asthephysical
and sensory characteristic of the information.
Intermediate memory processing requires some
degreeofrecognitionandlabellingandadeeper
processinginvolvesahigherdegreeofanalysislike
processingthemeaningoftheinformationandits
linkto the existing memory trace. It is assumed
that deeper level of analyses contributes to a
morelastingandlongermemoryability.Inother
words,informationwillbestoredinthelong-term
memorystoreasaresultoftheamountofanalysis
andprocessingdoneontheenvironmentalinput.
Therefore, it is important for the stimuli
availableintheenvironmenttohavethepotential
to activate the attention and to be involved in
control processes or deeper level of processing
inorderforthestimulitobebetterremembered.
Previousstudieshaveshownevidencesthatcolour
is one of the variables that has those potential.
Colours can inuence the level of attention
and also give rise to emotional arousal which
contributes to control processes that will later
enhancememoryperformance(13,14,21–23).
Attention and memory
Attention refers to the cognitive process
of selecting information that is available in the
environment. When we pay attention to certain
information, we are actually selecting and
focusing certain amount of information to be
processed in our cognitive system. The degree
of attention attached to certain stimuli increase
the probability of the information to be stored
in memory (14,15,23,24). In other words, the
informationthatwepaymoreattentiontoismore
likelytoberememberedthantheinformationthat
weignoreanddonotpayattentionto.Numerous
studieshavereportedthatattentioncanincrease
memoryperformancelevelintermsoftherecall
rates(14,15)andalsofasterreactiontime(23).
Attention, memory, and colour
Colour helps us in memorizing certain
information by increasing our attentional level.
The role played by colour in enhancing our
attentionlevelisundisputable(14,23).Themore
attention focused on certain stimuli, the more
chancesofthestimulitobetransferredtoamore
permanentmemorystorage(18).Asstatedearlier,
Review Article |Colourandmemory
www.mjms.usm.my 5
colours have the potential to attract attention.
Farley and Grant (13), were among the earliest
who came out with a theory suggesting that
colours have a greater effect on attention. This
conclusionwasbasedontheirstudyonattention
and cognition. They compared colour and non-
colour multimedia presentations on memory
performance. It was reported that the coloured
multimedia presentation resulted in better
attention than the non-coloured presentation.
Greene, Bell, and Boyer (21), further explained
that warm types of colours such as yellow, red
and orange have been found to have a greater
effect on attention compared to the cool type
ofcolourslikebrownandgray.
Pan(23)foundsimilarndingsinhisstudy
on working memory and visual attention. In
his study, participants were asked to identify
whether the colour or the shape of the two
objects that were presented were the same.
In the rst experiment, the colours of the two
objects were the same but the shapes were
different, while in the second experiment the
conditions were reversed. The result showed
that the participants’ response times were
faster in identifying the differences in colours
compared to differences in the shapes of the
objects in both experimental conditions (23).
This nding can be interpreted to show that
colours have a better and greater ability to
captureattentionthanothervariables.
Pan (14) extended his previous study by
verifyingthecolours.Heusedvisualgeometrical
shapes with various colours. The participants
(n=22)wereaskedtomemorizeboththecolours
and shape of the items. In the memory test,
the participants were asked to recognize the
colours and the shapes of the items that were
presented earlier on. He found that participants
performed better in recognizing the colour of
the items than the shapes. The result supported
hispreviousstudieswherecolourhadastronger
attentioneffectthantheshape,F(1,21)=4.984,
P=0.031,η2=0.192.Thissuggeststhat,colours
can produce a higher level of attention and
is effective to increase memory performance.
Therefore,it can beconcluded thatcolourshave
the tendency to capture better attention level,
andthus,bettermemory.
Arousal and memory
Arousal refers to the state of being alert
physically and internally. Various body system
and hormones may contribute to alertness (20).
Theconceptofarousalmayincludethephysical,
psychological, physiological, and emotional
arousal. In the study of memory, emotional
arousal is focused on more than the other types
of arousal. MacKay and Ahmetzanov (25)
conducted a study on the relationship between
emotional arousal and memory by using taboo
stroopparadigm. They predicted better memory
for taboo words (which were more emotionally
arousing) than neutral words. It was found
that the participants performed better in
experimental conditions that were associated
with emotionally arousing words (taboo words)
than the conditions with neutral words (26).
ThisresultcomplementsthestudyofHeuerand
Reisberg (27), that found better retention in
long-term recall with a high level of emotional
arousal. Similarly, a high level of arousal leads
toenhancementofbothshort-termandlong-term
memory.InanexperimentconductedbyCorteen
(cited in 27), which used aurally presented
words, it was reported that higher recall was
found after 20 minutes and two week delays.
The same result was reported in an experiment
which used a single arousing word. Recall
performance was found to be better with words
that have arousal effect than non-arousal
words. However, there was also evidence on
the detrimental effects of arousal especially on
short-term retention. For instance in learning,
the participants who have high arousal effect
remembered better in the delayed recall rather
than shortly after learning process. According
to Kleinsmith and Kaplan (28), words that
can produce greater arousal effect were better
remembered after one week than two minutes
afterthelearningprocess.Thus,fromthestudies
mentioned above, the level of arousal evoked
by environmental stimuli can have a signicant
effect on memory performance in whether the
short-termorlong-termmemorystorage.
Arousal, memory and colour
Arousal, especially emotional arousal, can
playanessentialroleinkeepingtheinformation
inthememorysystem. Colourscanenhance the
relationshipbetweenarousal and memory.Kaya
and Epps (22), asked their 98 college student
volunteers in public institutions to associate
colours with emotion. It was found that the
majority of participants associated green colour
withthefeelingofcalmness,happiness,comfort,
peace, hope, and excitement. Black colour was
associatedwiththefeelingofsadness,depression,
fear,andanger.Thismeansthatcolourshavean
emotional arousing effect. However, the degree
6 www.mjms.usm.my
Malays J Med Sci. Mar-May 2013; 20(2): 3-9
ofarousallevelmaydifferdependingonthetype
of emotion or feeling being attached to it (29).
AccordingtoJackson,Wu,Linden,andRaymond
(29),some types of emotion mayhave a greater
effect on arousal than the others. For instance,
angerwasfoundto haveagreater arousal effect
thanhappyorneutraltypeofemotion.Redcolour
isbeingattachedwithstrongeremotionorfeeling
compared to the other type of colours. Based
on the studies mentioned, it shows that colour
can produce an emotional arousing effect but
the degree or rangeof arousal variesdepending
on the emotional element that is attached with
specictypeofcolour.
Colour and Memory Performance
Colourhasbeenfoundtoinuencememory
performance by increasing our attentional level
and arousal. There exist robust evidences from
several studies that have been conducted to
explore the relationship between colour and
memoryperformance.Thosestudiesarereviewed
indetailbelow.
Spence, Wong, Rusan, and Rastegar (16)
examined the ability to recognise coloured
and gray-scale images of neutral scenes
with 120 participants. They reported that
participants’ recognition of the neutral scenes
were approximately 5% higher in the coloured
condition compared to the grey scale condition,
F (1, 112) = 47.0, P < 0.0001. The same
comparison was signicant at the 0.05 level
or better for different exposure durations. A
similar nding was reached in a recall test
conductedbySmilekandcolleagues(15).Smilek,
Dixon, and Merikle (15), carried out a study to
investigate the inuence of colour on memory
performance.Theyuseddigitnumberswithfour
different conditions; black, white, congruent,
andincongruentcolourconditions.Theyutilized
theundergraduatestudentsas their participants
in the study. Three minutes were given to the
participants to study the stimuli and another
threeminutesforthemtorecallthestimuli.The
stimuliwereexposedtotheparticipantsthrough
a computer screen. Signicant differences were
found between recall conditions. The memory
performance of the participants was found to
be better in the congruent colour condition
comparedtotheotherconditions(26).
Wichmann, Sharpe, and Gegenfurtner
(3), found a clear advantage of colour on visual
memory. In their rst experiment, they tested
the colour recognition of the participants on
the 50 milisecond to one second duration.
The participants reported 5% to 10% better
performance on colours over black-and-white
condition. In their second experiment, the
same images were used but with the exposure
durationofonesecondandinsixdifferentimage
contrasts;5%,10%,20%,40%,70%,and100%.
These contrasts were applied in colour and
black-and-white images. Colour images were
reported to have better memory recognition
over black-and-white, but the differences were
small. However, there were no signicant
differences found at the lower contrast level
(5% and 10%). According to the authors, the
images in the low contrast level were hardly
visible and seen. In their third experiment, the
sameprocedure was used,but participantswere
tested in different conditions. Those images
that were presented in colour were tested in
black-and-white and vice versa. A signicant
interaction was found between study mode
and test mode, F (1, 30) = 8.209, P < 0.01.
However, the performance of the images that
werepresentedincolourandtestedinblack-and-
white was deteriorated. The same goes for the
images that were presented in black-and-white
and tested in colour. However,the performance
wasbetterwiththecolourimagestestedincolour,
F (1, 30) = 4.576, P < 0.05. A similar nding
was reported in the fth experiment, where the
imageswiththecolouredframeshowsignicant
improvement (77.0% to 80.0%) in memory
recognition than images with the black frame,
t(19)=2.51,P<0.05.
Vernon and Lloyd-Jones (30) conducted
astudy to furtherexplore the effect ofcolour in
implicit and explicit memory performance. In
oneof their hypotheses, they expected a shorter
responsetimetocolouredstimuliincomparison
to non-coloured/black and white stimuli.
30 coloured and 30 non-coloured objects
were used in the study. In the study phase, the
participantswereinvolvedinthenamingtaskof
those 60 experimental objects. While in the test
phase, the participants were asked to recognize
theobjectswhichhavebeencategorizedinthree
differentconditions;samecolour,change colour
andnon-colour.20newobjects(10colouredand
10 non-coloured) were added in the test phase.
Responsetime, percentage ofthe score,hit, and
correct rejection rate were observed. The result
revealed a signicant effect on coloured object
F(1,29)=7.02, P <0.05.Thismeansparticipants
took faster time to recognise objects in the
colouredthannon-colouredcondition.
The above studies indicated that colour
can have a positive inuence on memory
Review Article |Colourandmemory
www.mjms.usm.my 7
performance. A few studies have however
found contradictory ndings. Lloyd-Jones
and Nakabayashi (31), carried out a study on
the effects of colour on object identication
and memorization, and found out that there
were differences in memory performance in
object-colour spatial integration and object
spatial separation. Two hundred and thirteen
undergraduate students from the University of
Kentwereinvolvedinthestudy.Allparticipants
were non colour-blind. 75 coloured common
objects were used as stimuli in the study. There
were three conditions; correctly coloured (the
objectanditsoriginalcolour),incorrectlycoloured
(the object not with its original colour) and
greyscalecondition.Thereweretwoexperimental
conditions; object-colour spatial integrationand
object-colour spatial separation. In the object-
colour spatial integration, the colour object
was placed on the grey background while in the
object-colour spatial separation, the grey object
wasplacedonthecolourbackground.Inthestudy
phase,participants ratedobject-colour typicality
on 7-point scale. In the test phase, participants
wererequiredtopresscertainbuttonstoindicate
whethertheobjectwascorrectlycolouredornot.
The speed of the response was measured. The
result showed that there was a signicant effect
ofthecolourF(1,184)=18.3,P<0.0001.Higher
ratings were found for the spatially integrated
condition (M = 3.84) than for spatial separated
condition (M = 3.13). In terms of the reaction
times, it was reported that shorter reaction
times were found for correctly coloured than
forincorrectly coloured in the spatial integrated
condition, t (83) = –2.58, P < 0.05 but not for
spatially separated, t (83) = 0.70, P > 0.05.
Therefore, coloured object with non-coloured
background have better memory retention
and yielded faster respond time compared to
colouredobjectwithcolouredbackground.
Another study by McConnohie (32) used
alphanumeric characters and showed them to
the participants through slideshow with three
background colour conditions; white, blue and
green. All the gure characters were in black.
If the colours have positive effect on memory,
performance was expected to be equal in these
conditions. The result however showed that the
slides with the white background resulted in
higher retention rates both in immediate and
delayed recall tasks than those with blue and
green background. This result contradicts the
previousstudiesinthatonlycertaincolourslead
to better memory. Nevertheless, in this study,
the colours chosen and the manipulation in the
gure and background colours may explain the
resultobtained.
HallandHanna(33),conductedastudyon
webpagetextandbackgroundcolourcombination
to memory retention. One hundred and thirty
sixuniversitystudentsparticipatedintheirstudy.
They used two different types of websites; an
educationalwebsitewhichcontainedinformation
regarding a neuroscience subject and a website
which was more commercial that had an
advertisementofproducts.HallandHannaused
four different types of ground and gure colour
combinations for each of the websites; black on
white background, white on black background,
light blue on dark blue background and teal on
blackbackground.Eachparticipantwasrandomly
assignedtoeachofthefourconditionsandthey
weregiven10minutestoviewthewebsites.After
that, they were required to answer 10 multiple-
choicequestionsusedtomeasurethereadability,
retention, aesthetics, and behavioural intention
level. It was expected that the condition with
a higher contrast level of colour will result in a
higherlevelofreadabilityandalsoretentionrate.
The result obtained show signicant differences
in the four conditions and the post-hoc tests
showed that the readability performance was
highest on the black on white background
condition.Thisconditionwasinterpretedtohave
thehighestcontrastlevelcomparedtotheothers
andthiscontributestoabetterreadability level.
The signicant result found for readability was
howevernotfoundonretentionrate.Thismeans
thatthedifferentcontrastofcolourcombination
usedonlyeffectsreadabilitylevelbutnotmemory
orretentionrate(33).
Factors That Inuence the
Effectiveness of Colour on Memory
Performance
The studies reviewed above showed that
colourscanleadtobetter memory performance.
There are however studies that indicate an
opposing effect of colour on memory. On the
basis of the studies reviewed previously, it can
be summarized that the effectiveness of colour
on memory performance is based on a few
factors. First is the consistency of the colours
used during encoding and retrieval phases. This
means the colour used or presented during the
time when participants are asked to memorize
shouldbethesamewiththecolourshowntothem
at the time of retrieval. This rule is in line with
the encoding specicity principle that highlights
thecloseconnectionbetweenthesetwomemory
8 www.mjms.usm.my
Malays J Med Sci. Mar-May 2013; 20(2): 3-9
processes,encoding,andretrievalindetermining
the memory performance. The greater match of
conditions in these two processes, the better is
theretrievaloutcome.
Another factor that needs to be taken into
account is when few colours or combination
of colours are involved (as in background and
foreground conditions). The right combination
of colours is important because it can produce
higher level of contrast, and this can inuence
memory retention. Higher level of contrast may
refer to the colour hue (the wavelength) and
the luminance (brightness of the colour) of the
colour(33).Itwaspredicted that higherlevelof
contrast will attract more attention and better
visibilityofanobjectorinformation.Stimuliwith
white foreground on red background can have
ahigher level ofcontrast compared to the other
colourcombination.Similarly,theuseofawhite
colourbackgroundwithblackcolourforeground
hasa bettercontrast levelfor memoryretention
forbothshort-termandlong-term(32).Thismay
be the reason for the top fast-food restaurants
in the world to be associated and branded with
vivid colour. For example, McDonalds used
yellowandredcolourinthelogo,whileKentucky
FriedChickenisrememberedwithredandwhite
colour combinations. Colour therefore played
a very important role in inuencing consumers
psychologically, which is characterized by
emotional attachment, attention, memory, and
attitude that later increase the likelihood of
buyingbehaviour.
Conclusion
An important aspect in successful and
efcient cognitive functioning is the abilities
to utilize the system to the fullest. Research on
memory has provided a vast strategy that can
be used to ensure successful retrieval. There
appears to be a basis for associating colour and
its signicant effect on memory abilities. In
otherwords,colourhasthepotentialtoincrease
chancesofenvironmentalstimulitobeencoded,
stored, and retrieved successfully. The choice
of colours and the manipulative aspects can,
however, inuence the extent to which colours
caninuencehumanmemoryperformance.
Acknowledgement
The authors thanked the International
Islamic University (IIUM) undergraduate
students majoring in Psychology who have
participatedintheexperiment.Theauthorsalso
thanked the reviewers of this article for their
valuablecommentsandsuggestions.
The results of this study have not been
presentedinanysymposium.
Conict of interest
Nil.
Funds
Thiswork was supported by the IIUM Research
EndowmentGrant(EDWA11-439-1230).
Authors’ Contributions
Draftingofthearticle:MFMM
Critical revision of the article for the important
intellectualcontent:MFMM,MAD
Final approval of the article and obtaining of
funding:MAD
Correspondence
Dr Mariam Adawiah Dzulkii
BHsc(IIUM),MSc(Birmingham),PhD(Cardiff)
DepartmentofPsychology
InternationalIslamicUniversityMalaysia
JalanGombak
53100Selangor
Malaysia
Tel:+603-61965143
Fax:+603-61965062
Email:m.adawiah@iium.edu.my
References
1. Radvansky G. Human memory. Boston (MA):
PearsonEducationGroup;2006.
2. Adams FM, Osgood CE. A cross-cultural study of
theaffectivemeaningofcolor.J Cross Cult Psychol.
1973;4(2):135–156.
3. Wichmann FA, Sharpe LT, Gegenfurtner
KR. The contributions of color to recognition
memory for natural scenes. J Exp Psychol Learn.
2002;28(3):509–520.
4. Morton,J.Whycolormatters;2010[cited2010Dec
20]. Available from: http://www.colormatters.com/
color-and-design/why-color-matters/.
5. Moore RS, Stammerjohan CA, Coulter RA. Banner
advertiser-web site context congruity and color
effects on attention and attitude. J Advertising.
2005;34(2):71–84.
6. White,JV.Color for impact. Ohio(US):Strathmoor
Press;1997.
Review Article |Colourandmemory
www.mjms.usm.my 9
7. MariamAdawiahD,IntanAiduraA.Studentsoflow
academic achievement – their personality, mental
abilitiesandacademicperformance:Howcounsellor
canhelp?Int J Hum Soc Scie. 2012;2(23):220–225.
8. Wilkins AJ. Reading through colour. Chichester
(EG):Wiley.2003.
9. Ludlow AK, Wilkins AJ. Colour as a therapeutic
intervention:The caseof J.G. J Autism Dev Disord.
2009;39(5):815–818.
10. ZillmerEA,SpiersMV,CulbertsonWC.Principles of
Neuropsychology. Belmont (BE): Thomson Higher
Ed;2008.
11. MariamAdawiahD.Memory,ageingandAlzheimer’s
disease:thecaseforMalaysia.In:NoorNM,Dzulkii
MA,editors. Psychology in Malaysia.KualaLumpur
(MY):Pearson;2012.
12. Cernin P, Keller B, Stoner J. Color vision in
Alzhermer’s patients: Can we improve object
recognitionwithcolorcues? Aging Neuropsychol C.
2003;10(4):255–267.
13. Farley FH, Grant AP. Arousal and cognition:
Memoryforcolorversusblackandwhitemultimedia
presentation. J Psychol.1976;94(1):147–150.
14. Pan Y. Attentional capture by working memory
contents.Can J Exp Psychol.2012;64(2):124–128.
15. SmilekD,DixonMJ,CudahyC,MeriklePM.Research
Report: Synesthetic color experiences inuence
memory.Psychol Sci.2002:13(6);548–552.
16. SpenceI,WongP,Rusan,M,RastegarN.Howcolor
enhancesvisual memoryfornatural scenes.Psychol
Sci.2006:17(1);1–6.
17. Atkinson RC, Shiffrin RM. Human memory: A
proposedsystemanditscontrolprocesses;1968.In:
Spence KW, Spence JT. editors. The psychology of
learning and motivation. London (UK): Academic
Press;89–195.
18. Sternberg RJ. Cognitive Psychology. 5th Ed.
Belmont(BE):Wadsworth Cengage Learning.2009.
19. Greene TC, Bell PA, Boyer WN. Coloring the
environment:Hue,arousal,andboredom.Bull Psych
Socie.1983:21(4);253–254.
20. Kaya N, Epps HH. Proceeding of Interim Meeting
of The International Color Association, AIC 2004
Colors and Paints [Internet]. Colour-emotion
association:Pastexperienceandpersonalpreference;
2004 [cited 2010 Aug 28]. Available from: http://
findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_3_38/
ai_n6249223/.
21. Pan Y. Research on the content-based working
memory-driven capture of visual attention and
its automaticity. Unpublished doctoral dissertation:
ZhejiangUniversity;2009.
22. Eysenck MW. Fundamental of psychology. London
(UK):PsychologyPress;2009.
23. MacKay DG, Ahmetzanov MV. Motion, memory,
andattentioninthetaboostroopparadigm.Psychol
Sci. 2005:16(1);25–32.
24. HeuerF,ReisbergD.Emotion,arousalandmemory
for detail. In: Christianson, S. A. Handbook of
Emotion and Memory: Research and Theory
[Internet]. New Jersey (US): Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates; 1992 [cited 2010 May 15]. Available
from:http://books.google.com.my/books?id=dXMs_
dloSEcC&pg=PA39&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=o
nepage&q&f=false.
25.Kleinsmith, LJ, Kaplan S. Paired-associate learning
as a function of arousal and interpolated interval.
J Exp Psychol.1963:65(2);190–193.
26. Jackson MC, Wu CY, Linden DEJ, Raymond JE.
Enhancedvisualshort-termmemoryforangryfaces.
J Exp Psychol Human.2009:35(2);363–374.
27. Vernon D, Lloyd-Jones TJ. The role of colour in
implicit and explicit memory performance. Q J Exp
Psychol A. 2003:56(5);779–802.
28. Lloyd-JonesTJ,NakabayashiK.Independenteffects
ofcoloronobjectidenticationandmemory.Q J Exp
Psychol. 2009:62(2);310–322.
29. McConnohie BV. A study of the effect of color in
memory retention when used in presentation
software. Unpublished doctoral dissertation:
JohnsonBibleCollege;1999.
30. HallRH,HannaP.Theimpactofwebtext-background
color combination on readability, retention,
aestheticsandbehavioural intention. Behav Inform.
2004:23(3);183–195.