Effectiveness of Color in Picture Recognition Memory, Essay Example

Outline

Strengths:

• Immediate and 1-week waiting periods between test phase and study phase clarified recall process and recognition effectiveness of colored photographs over time
• Pictures did not contain proper names or persons in the foreground as they would aid in recognition and recall
• Natural scenes in photographs were of environments not familiar to the subjects
• Acute attention to detail in head placement, eye contact, screen location and shutter time eliminated potential biases and causes for error

Weaknesses:

• Participants were randomly assigned while researchers failed to consider gender, age and racial biases during assignment.
• Distractor photographs were intermingled throughout the study, but the purpose for applying such photographs was not mentioned by researchers
• Test format, results and hypotheses were overly similar to previous studies performed by past researchers.
• Lack of real-world application of psychological findings; no mention of long-term memory loss application

This study investigated the effectiveness of color in picture recognition memory by examining different recall processes by subjects that viewed color and black-and-white photographs of the same scene.  During the study phase, half of the pictures were presented in color and the other half was shown in black and white.  During the test phase, half of the photographs were shown in the exact same color mode as the study phase, while the other half was shown in the opposite mode.  Results showed that the recognition performance was at its peak when color pictures were used during both the study and test phases.  On the other hand, the recall processes did not show marked improvement even for the color pictures.  The research results suggest effectiveness in picture recognition for colored photographs, which likely results from the distinctiveness of features within the photographs that were emphasized by the colors.  Furthermore, research results found that it was more difficult for subjects to detect deletion or missing colors from previous photographs than when they were added.  Color did not improve memory, but it did emphasize distinct characteristics that can be important during recognition.

Probably the most impressive part of the study came from the acute attention to detail that the researchers had while implementing their study format to eliminate possible sources of data collection error.  Precise measurements were implemented for head placement, eye level while viewing the photographs, and distance away from the screen to avoid possible errors in results.  The researchers took great steps to avoid possible causal factors for error, and ensured that all subjects were experiencing very similar environment surroundings during both phases of the study.  To avoid possible recognition or recall error, the researchers used natural scenes that were not native to the subjects to avoid possible association with nearby localized environments.  The recall error was also avoided as the photographs completely eliminated the presence of pronouns and people in the foreground because it could have a positive or negative impact on recall and recognition.  Furthermore, the researchers provided the subjects with two separate phases to introduce them to photographs during the study phase that they would be seeing later during the test phase.  These two phases were highly important for clarification of the results, although they were previously utilized by Pezdek, Maki, Valencia-Laver, Whetstone, Stoeckert, and Dougherty as well as Watkins and Schiano.

Unfortunately, the results of the study had very little real world application as it closely resembled much of the literature described during the introduction of the article.  As the researchers discussed, the studies of Watkins and Schiano (1982) and Paivio, Rogers, and Smythe (1968) had already clearly shown the relationship that color had on recognition performance and no substantial effect on recall.  By providing a similar study in format and content, the research poses very little substantial advancement in the clinical application.  Of course, the hypotheses were correct and accurate mostly because the previous studies also had very similar hypotheses that were tested.  Previous results made the task of predicting more than easy and provided very little challenge when conducting the study.

This fact poses a great concern on the true purpose of the study.  The goal of clinical research should be to test a hypothesis and explain the results so that future research can be conducted or an attempted advancement within the field can be made.  While neither goal is achieved through this particular study, the purpose of the research is unclear.  The researchers make the claim that no study had previously tested a direct correlation between color in photographs and memory recall and recognition; however, due to the similar nature of past research it is clear that such a correlation was not proven because it was already inherent in previous studies.  In addition, the researchers fail to draw appropriate conclusions that have real world application potential based on their findings.  Recognition was only increased when color was used in both the study and test phases.  The researchers’ only concluding comments reiterate this fact and provide no statement for future research or how the information of color inclusion could possibly benefit the field through memory recall, encoding, or retrieval processes.  Without such direct concluding remarks, the overall quality of the research is reduced and shows no practical inclusion or application in the future.

A possible source for future application may have been in the separation of subjects into two groups based on time of recollection.  The first group of 24 subjects was placed into an immediate recall group, while the remaining 24 subjects were placed in a 1-week recall group.  The researchers may have possibly established potential theory for color as it pertained to long-term and short-term recall and recognition in picture memory.  Unfortunately, the researchers made no distinction of the long-term and short-term effects, except to explain that subjects over the 1-week period were more likely to forget what they had seen during the study phase than the other group of subjects.  Also, the purpose of the distractor photographs throughout the study phase was also not directly stated within the research.  Distractor photographs maintained only one purpose, which was to possibly reduce recall and recognition during memory.  Due to the long-term memory loss effect, distractor photographs held no purpose in the study except to only increase the potential for subjects to forget the images they had previously viewed.  It is important for all variables to be clearly stated, and the researchers did not define the purpose for placing distractor photographs into the group of 240 images.

Finally, the researchers failed to consider any potential sociocultural biases during random assignment between the two groups.  Many researchers focus on the age, gender and racial factors that may cause problems in clarifying research findings.  None of these three variables were discussed within the study.  As it is stereotypically defined in American culture, the memory of women is much better than that of male counterparts.  If this is truly the case, the researchers should have made strong efforts to takes these physiological and psychological biases under consideration when conducting assignment of subjects.  The method of the study is clearly stated, except for the assignment method.  The authors mention that 48 subjects at Niigata University were split between the two assigned groups based on time frame differentials, but no other information discusses the process for random assignment or random selection.

Although there are clearly many flaws and weaknesses in the research purpose, definition of variables, and originality, the research has the potential to provide benefits on memory recall and recognition statistics.  Color may be a key to improving recognition, or perhaps future research should be performed to discover new ways to utilize color to increase recall and recognition.  Besides the color-color variable association, color had virtually no statistically-significant impact on recall or recognition for memory.  New information on the subject should be produced to help increase the amount of psychological application material and methods that may be used to increase memory or at least avoid memory loss over the short-term and long-term periods.

References

Suzuki, K. & Takahashi, R. (1997). Effectiveness of color in picture recognition memory. Japanese Psychological Research, 39(1), 25-32.