Llinares and colleagues investigated links between wall surface color and cognitive performance, maintaining constant color value/lightness (at an intermediate level) as they did so. The researchers report that “The objective of the present study is to analyse the impact that warm and cold hue coloured classroom walls have on the cognitive attention and memory functions of university students. . . . attention and memory performance . . . was evaluated in 12 warm and 12 cold hue colour settings in a virtual classroom. . . . performance was quantified through psychological (attention and memory tasks) and neurophysiological (heart rate variability and electroencephalogram) metrics related to the cognitive functions analysed. The results showed that cold hue colours . . . improve performance in attention and memory tasks.”
Carmen Llinares, Juan Higuera-Trujillo, and Juan Serra. 2021. “Cold and Warm Coloured Classrooms. Effects on Students’ Attention and Memory Measured Through Psychological and Neurophysiological Responses.” Building and Environment, vol. 196, 107726, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.107726
Sally Augustin, PhD, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com). Research Design Connections reports on research conducted by social and physical scientists that designers can apply in practice. Insights derived from recent studies are integrated with classic, still relevant findings in concise, powerful articles. Topics covered range from the cognitive, emotional, and physiological implications of sensory and other physical experiences to the alignment of culture, personality, and design, among others. Information, in everyday language, is shared in a monthly subscription newsletter, an archive of thousands of published articles, and a free daily blog. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.