The Interactive Effects of Colors on Visual Attention and Working Memory: In Case of Images of Tourist Attractions

The paper explores the role that color can influence people’s visual attention and working memory through a computer-based experiment. With the assumption that there are trade-offs between attention/ memory, and loading tasks which create distractions (e.g., tasking/working people cannot afford to pay attention to other objects, and no tasking people would more pay attention to the objects), the study examines the effects of colors on people’s visual attention and the relevance of attention to retention of working memory by performing a dual-task experiment called the box shooting test. The results show that the color effect shows significant differences on working memory indicating that color would more significantly play a role for forming people’s memory rather than holding attention. The possible implications are also discussed.