Color-Scheme Retention: Its Effectiveness among Grade Seven students of Batangas State University-Main Campus I

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Memory retention is a skill of high importance especially in school where you need to pass a multitude of tests to graduate. The problem lies with the inability of students to memorize and retain information for their examinations. There have been many types of research which aimed to alleviate this difficulty, but it does not apply to everybody. This is where the researchers introduced the idea of colors which has been proven to boost cognitive abilities. This study's purpose is to know which among the colors white, orange, blue, and green will be the most effective for studying and improving the cognitive skills of the respondents.

METHODS

A visual memory test was used. Thirty grade seven students were selected through stratified random sampling. There were three strata which were further divided based on their first quarter grades. Packets filled with papers containing 15 words per color were used. Two other papers were in the packets -a multiplication task to deviate the respondents' attention and an enlistment sheet. The respondents were given a minute to familiarize themselves with the words highlighted using different colors. They were tasked to answer the arithmetic task and list down the words after. The process was done with all colors twice to achieve reliable results and minimize external factors that may have affected the students. The statistical treatments used are One-way ANOVA test, Bonferroni Post Hoc test, and Mean Plot Diagram.

RESULTS

The results showed that orange garnered the highest average number of words that a student can memorize with 9.82 words. It was followed by white, green and blue. The means of words with the orange background is significantly different from those of white, blue, and green. The outcome was consistent in each stratum and both trials. This shows that the warmer color orange best boosts the memory retention of a person as compared to the usage of white and cooler colors blue and green.

DISCUSSIONS

Orange emerged as the most effective color for memory retention. This result is consistent with the findings of both Huchendorf (2007) and Krahn (2018) wherein warm colors had a higher effect in boosting memory retention. The present study, however, limited the colors to those of Gutierrez (2016)'s most effective colors for learning. With the results garnered, future researchers may focus their study on warm colors and the different shades of their chosen colorS.