Short Term Memory Attention Essay

Ramy Sharaf

Mrs. Spanos

Graduation Project

4 October 2014

The Effects of Colored Fonts and Backgrounds on Short-term Memory Retention In a world of rapid technological advancements and increasing competition between companies, advertising has become one of the most essential components in promoting a product. The use of color is a major strategy in advertising as it is an attempt to capture the consumer’s attention and elicit certain emotional responses useful in successfully promoting the particular product/brand (The Psychology of Color, 2013). It is known that colors increase brand recognition by up to 80% because colors help people recognize things much easier (Morton J. 2010 and Ludlow A.K.). Color should be incorporated in educational

Since humans are naturally emotional beings, they tend to remember things that elicit their emotions better. Because of this, colors that elicit emotions will significantly help the individual remember the information associated with the color used. The color theory is a great resource that helps identify the emotions associated with various colors. For example, the color theory states that the color blue is associated with tranquility and calmness while the color red is associated with intense feelings of energy, some positive and some negative. Colors such as green and yellow elicit emotions such as joy, happiness, growth, intellect and harmony, which are bound to have a positive effect on promoting memory retention in an individual. (Color Wheel Pro, 2002)) Emotions are strongly related with color, as can be seen above, therefore if the emotions elicited correspond to those presented in the color wheel, then incorporation of such colors can increase memory retention levels in students. (Color Wheel Pro,

By using colors in schools, a student can associate the information with a color and their unconscious memory will help the individual connect information to previous encounters. Implicit memory is also responsible for the recollection of information that is subtle (What’s the Difference, 2014). Association of a color with a word of similar literal or figurative meaning allows the unconscious mind to memorize the information and transfer it into implicit memory. Taking advantage of associating colors with objects and using one’s unconscious memory can significantly improve a student’s ability to retain learned