By: Sari Kripke 12/15/16
MIAMI REDHAWK NEWS
www.miamiuniversitynews.com
HOW MEMORY IS IMPACTED BY THE COLOR RED
Can these findings help boost your semester grades ?
Since the beginning of human existence, we
have associated red with danger and survival.
Blood, fires, and even some poisonous foods are
red. In today’s day and age, we have the knowledge
of what foods we can eat and what foods are
poisonous that we must avoid. But just because we
live in a more developed society does not mean
that we live in a danger-free society. Red still
captures our attention and warns us to be careful;
stop signs, firetrucks, and ambulance sirens are
among a few of these danger signs. When people
get injured and bleed, it is a signal they need
medical assistance. When a fire is sparked, such as
those in California right now, it is a signal that
firemen are needed to contain it. Despite the
negative associations humans have made with this
color, we have also made just as many positive
associations with it. Red is the color of love,
Christmas time, roses, and charity organizations
such as the Red Cross. Let’s not forget that red is
the color of our beloved Miami Redhawks as well.
So how is it possible to have an abundance of both
negative and positive connotations with the color.
Also, what does this have to do with memory?
Considering the evolutionary components
of red and the abundance of positive and negative
associations we have with the color, Kuhbandner,
Spitzer, Lichtenfeld, and Pekrun (2015) researched
the effects of color on verbal memory, visual
memory, visual scenes, and incidental learning.
They predicted that since red was initially
important to evolutionary survival, and since red
serves as a signal of increased attention,
participants would remember a higher number of
red exemplars than of any other color. In the first
three experiments, participants were asked to
remember words, pictures, and scenes coated in
[Edition 1, Volume 1]
either red, green, blue, or yellow. Even though
color did not influence the chances of remembering
what words, pictures, or scenes were presented,
the type of color influenced the probability of
properly classifying them. Exemplars that were in
red and yellow were classified at a higher rate of
correctness than exemplars presented in blue or
green. Also, participants remembered a higher
number of red exemplars than yellow, even though
the difference was not statistically significant. In
this study, as predicted, red served as a signal
which attracted increased attention in the initial
encoding process of the words, pictures, and
scenes. In the final portion of this experiment,
researchers studied whether color impacted
incidental memory. In other words, they wanted to
see if participants remembered red color coated
words better than other colors, even without being
prompted to remember them. Findings suggest
that red words were recalled at a significantly
higher rate than words that were in yellow, blue,
and green (Kuhbandner, Spitzer, Lichtenfeld &
Pekrun 2015).
A study done in 2011 by Labrecque and
Milne examined the role of color in advertisements.
They found that red attracts attention more
strongly than any other color. Additionally, they
discovered that using red in marketing increases
both familiarity and likeability towards the brand,
thus increasing sales and profit (Labrecque &
Milne, 2011). A more recent study that was
published in 2017 discovered a link between red
and dominance. In their research, participants first
identified a list of ten different words as either
dominant or rest-related. After, they were
presented these same words in either blue, red, or
gray and had to again identify them as either
dominant or rest-related words. Results found that
dominant words coated in red were identified
quicker and more accurately than any other color-
word combination, suggesting there is a link
between red and words classified as dominant.
Considering the implications from the previous
study that red attracts higher rates of attention, the
relationship between red and dominant words
makes sense. Red words signaled participants to
classify them more attentively, accurately, and
more quickly (Stijn, Schucker, Hagemann &
Strauss, 2017). A similar study conducted in 2016
examined the recall of negative and positive words
that were presented in either red or green ink.
They predicted that positive words in green ink
and negative words in red ink would be recalled
most accurately. They included both congruent and
incongruent pairings of ink color with the
emotionally positive or negative classified words.
Results showed that the most accurate recall was
with negative words presented in red ink
(Mammarella, Di Domenico, Palumbo & Fairfield,
2016).
Likewise, research by Kripke, Chadwell,
and Connors (2017) looked at the effects of fear
and ink color on memory. Participants were
randomly assigned to either watch a video aimed
to induce fear, or a neutral video of ocean waves.
Then again, participants were randomly assigned
to review a list of words that were colored in either
red or black ink. Although no significant results
were found, a notable correlation existed with fear
and red ink colored words. Participants who were
induced with fear and then presented with a list of
words in red ink remembered more words and
remembered them more accurately than
participants in all of the other conditions. This is
congruent with the other findings that show red
increases memory recall, especially with negative
associations.
So, what started as an evolutionary
mechanism for survival millions of years ago is
now a mechanism that you can apply towards your
academic success. Even though red has been found
to increase memory, the most for negative related
concepts, it has also been shown to improve
memory for any concept more than other colors
do. So students, next time you are studying for an
exam or reviewing notes from a lecture, consider
color coating in red. Professors, consider
composing your lecture slides in variations of red
to attract students’ attention during class and
improve their chances of recalling the concepts you
are teaching. While red is already abundant in your
lives as fellow Miami Redhawks, integrating red
into your studies may show intriguing results. The
power of red is truly amazing. Go Redhawks!
 References:
Chadwell, C., Connors, M., Kripke, S. (2017). The effects of fear and ink color on memory.

Unpublished manuscript.

Labrecque L. I., Milne G. R. (2011). Exciting red and competent blue: the importance of color in

marketing. J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 40 711–727 10.1007/s11747-010-0245-y

Kuhbandner, C., & Pekrun, R. (2013). Joint effects of emotion and color on memory. Emotion,

13(3), 375-379. doi:10.1037/a0031821

Kuhbandner, C., Spitzer, B., Lichtenfeld, S., & Pekrun, R. (2015). Differential binding of colors

to objects in memory: Red and yellow stick better than blue and green. Frontiers in

Psychology, 6,231.http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00231

Mammarella, N., Di Domenico, A., Palumbo, R., & Fairfield, B. (2016). When green is positive

and red is negative: Aging and the influence of color on emotional memories. Psychology

and Aging, 31(8), 914-926. doi:10.1037/pag0000122

Mentzel, S. V., Schücker, L., Hagemann, N., & Strauss, B. (2017). Emotionality of colors: An

implicit link between red and dominance. Frontiers in Psychology, 8.