Behavior of a periodic chromatic test with an achromatic Ronchi grating as a background

The aim of this article is to study the influence of an achromatic Ronchi grating (white and black stripes) used as a background, over a periodic chromatic test (red or green). Depending on the grating frequency, two parameters were used to study this influence: modulation ratio and grating contrast. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2012     

On the relationship between wavelength and perceived hue

Unlike in the case of sound where there is a compressed but straightforward relationship between frequency of sound waves and the perceived pitch, in the case of color the relationship is highly nonlinear, as first pointed out by Ostwald in 1916. In this article, the relationship between the perceptual Munsell hue scale and the related dominant wavelengths of the color chips involved is investigated. A hypothesis is proposed according to which the immediate cause of the nonlinearity can be found in the relative activation of the kinds of chromatically opponent functions shown to exist in neurons of the lateral geniculate nuclei. However, at this time, the relationship is only correlational, given the lack of deeper understanding of the relationship between the physiological operation of the color vision system and conscious experiences of color. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 2011;     

Does interior color contrast enhance spatial memory?

This study investigated the effect of contrast in neutral-, warm-, and cool-colored spaces on spatial memory. Spatial memory was measured in terms of architectural scale and recollection of architectural elements and furniture. Participants (N = 114) viewed a short virtual simulation video of a residential studio and were asked to sketch a map of the architectural elements on distributed grid paper. Spatial memory was measured in terms of scale, and item recall rate. Contrast and hue had no significant effect on the memorization of proportional scale. However, high-contrast schemes allowed for a significantly higher recollection of architectural elements than low-contrast schemes. In comparing the effect of hues, a significant difference was seen in recalling detailed furniture and lighting items. Participants reported significantly better spatial memory of neutral and warm color schemes than of cool color schemes. There was no interaction effect between contrast and hue in the color combinations. These results can be applied in the design of color schemes for architectural spaces requiring enhanced spatial cognition and memory.     

Test/retest and inter‐test agreement of color aptitude measures

The color discrimination capacity of color vision normal observers can be assessed using color aptitude tests (CATs), although data on the test/retest reliability and inter‐test agreement of such tests using appropriate statistical measures is limited. In this study, 32 color vision normal observers twice performed each of five CATs, being the Farnsworth‐Munsell 100 hue test, HVC Color Vision Skills Test, inter‐Society Color Council Color Aptitude Test, the Nagel Anomaloscope (Nagel), and a custom designed two‐color discrimination test. Two methods of determining the Nagel matching range were used based on the initially accepted matching range or on repeated measures. The test/retest performance of each test was determined using the method outlined by Bland and Altman[Lancet 1986;1:307–310] and the inter‐test agreement was analyzed using the same method, after converting test scores into z score units. No test was found to have a significant systematic alteration in test performance between test and retest. Test/retest performance was generally poor, indicating that tests can only reliably classify observers into very broad performance bands. All tests failed to show inter‐test agreement, and our data indicate a primary reason for this: as test/retest performance is generally poor, inter‐test agreement must also be poor as no test can agree more with another test than it agrees with itself. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 40, 224–231, 2015     

Background and foreground interaction: Influence of complementary colors on the search task

Labels are indispensable visual (communication) elements that completely deliver the geospatial message of maps. The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of complementary colors between the map's background and text on the readability of cartographic texts and thus on the efficiency of the map user's search task. This is compared with the use of the “traditional” black labels on the corresponding colored backgrounds. Furthermore, a number of user characteristics, such as gender and expertise, are taken into account as well. The users' eye movements were registered to study their attentive behavior during the visual search task. In addition to the complement of the color's hue, the analyses were based on the difference in luminance, which could also affect the labels' readability. The difference between the black and colored label design was significantly different versus the eye‐tracking metrics. A correlation was found between the color difference and reaction time measurement and between the luminance difference and fixation duration. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 40, 437–445, 2015     

Effects of color on expectations of drug effects: A cross‐gender cross‐cultural study

To study the role of color in expectations of drug effects, 80 Chinese participants (40 females and 40 males) were asked to classify each of seven single colored capsules and six differently colored two‐piece capsules into one of four classifications of drug effects. The results from the Chinese sample were also compared with that from four other cultural groups studied elsewhere. The Chi‐square test results showed that all seven single colored capsules yielded non‐chance distributions in classifications of drug effects, with six showing specific effects; and that five two‐colored capsules had non‐chance distributions, with four significantly associated with specific effects. Notable gender differences were observed in the expectations of drug effects. While the cross‐group comparison revealed consistent red‐stimulant and blue‐depressant associations across the five cultural groups, disagreements existed for other colors among the groups. The findings emphasized the importance of color in drug design and administration in support of drug differentiation, medication adherence, and drug efficacy, and suggest gender and cultural implications on the basis of color to achieve better drug effects. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 42, 124–130, 2017     

Investigating the personality associations evoked by single colors: An exploratory study

Despite the crucial role of color appearance in forming first impressions, it is still not clear how color evokes personality associations—that is, a color‐personality association (CPA). This study aims to propose a method for quantifying the relationships between color attributes and CPAs for single colors. Specifically, we first collected the CPAs of five traits evoked by single colors (i.e., extraverted–introverted, moody–unemotional, agreeable–disagreeable, organized–disorganized, and wide interests–narrow interests) in a carefully controlled experiment. Then, multiple linear regression (MLR) analyses were adopted to predict these CPAs based on three color attributes (lightness, chroma, and hue). Our results showed that (1) the personality associations could be evoked by colors and perceived consistently by observers; (2) the relationships between the color attributes and the CPAs could be well quantified by separately conducting MLR analyses in different regions of hue (i.e., red, green, blue, and yellow regions); and (3) both lightness and chroma were significant predictors in almost all predictive models and they might have different relative importance or directions of effect when predicting the CPAs in different regions of hue, even for the same trait. This study improves the understanding of how color evokes personality associations and takes the first step toward developing the method for predicting the CPAs for multicolor combinations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 42, 388–396, 2017