Research Methods

Running head: COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 1

The Influence of Color Priming and Forewarning on Anagram Performance

A. Student

Florida International University

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 2

Abstract

Methods One Students: Typically, authors add their abstract for the paper here on the second

page. As you can see, the abstract for this paper is missing. Your job is to supply that abstract!

Read over the following paper, which is an actual paper turned in by a former student taking

Research Methods and Design II at FIU. This is similar to a paper you will write next semester.

Review the studies in this paper, and spot the hypotheses, independent and dependent variables,

participants, results, and implications, and write it up in one paragraph (no more than 200 words

maximum). Make sure to include keywords as well (keywords are words or short phrases that

researchers use when searching through online databases like PsycInfo – they need to be

descriptive of the paper, so come up with three or four that seem to suit this paper). Good luck!

Keywords: Methods II Paper, Abstract Assignment, Methods II Preview

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 3

The Influence of Color Priming and Forewarning on Anagram Performance

Colors are an essential part of life, from warning us of poisonous creatures to describing

our emotions, they have proven their worth. Certain colors can be perceived in specific situations

or attributed to a particular emotion. For instance, priming of sadness can lead to perception of

the color blue, whereas priming of anger can lead to perception of the color red (Fetterman,

Robinson, Gordon, & Elliot, 2011). The central aim of our study is to explore the effect priming

with a specific color has on anagram performance.

Priming is defined as the unconscious influence that a stimulus has on the agility or

accuracy in performing a task (Schacter & Rajendra, 2001). According to Jefferis and Fazio

(2008), priming impacts behaviors by informing the person if they have met the demands of the

situation. The influence priming has on behavior is shaped by what one perceives in a particular

situation. For example, priming the color red in the context of romantic attraction would have a

different response than priming the color red in an achievement situation, situations in which

there is a possibility for success or failure and competence is measured (Elliot, Maier, Binser,

Friedman, & Pekrun, 2009). In the context of romantic attraction, the color red unconsciously

increases perceived attractiveness of another person (Elliot & Niesta, 2008). With regards to

achievement, the color red elicits avoidance behavior due to its association with factors such as

the red in alarms that suggest danger (Elliot, Maier, Moller, Friedman, & Meinhardt, 2007; Elliot

et al., 2009).

To study the influence that red has on achievement, Elliot et al. (2007) designed a study

that involved color priming and used anagram performance as a representation of achievement.

In one of the experiments conducted, the colors red, green, and black were used to test anagram

performance. Participants were assigned to the color conditions (red, green, or black) through the

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 4

process of random assignment. First participants were given a practice test and later they were

given the real anagram test. Before completing the real anagram test, participants were told to

check that all of the pages contained their participant number. The numbers were written in red,

green, or black ink at the top of every page of the test. Results showed that exposure to red,

compared to green or black, on achievement tasks impaired performance.

In accordance with the idea that color affects performance, Steele (2014) recreated a

study that hypothesized that words associated with avoidance were solved faster on a red

background and words associated with approaching were solved faster on a blue background.

Participants were asked to complete an anagram task in which instructions for the task were

written in black letters on a white, red, or blue background. The words were linked to activating

either approach, avoidance, or neutral motivation. The findings opposed those of the previous

study that Steele (2004) replicated. The previous study reported that a red background would

result in faster solution of avoidance words and that a blue background would result in faster

solution of approach words. Steele’s study found that words classified as avoidance were solved

slower on the red background compared to approach and neutral words. Similarly, words

classified as approach were solved slower on the blue background. An implication as to why the

result of the replicated study were contradictory to those of the original study suggested that

words classified as avoidance, approach, or neutral were actually classified in the wrong group.

Study One

To further explore the impact that color priming has on anagram performance, we

designed a study in similar fashion to Elliot et al. (2007), in which participants completed an

anagram task after priming for a specific color. Each participant was given an identical anagram

task to complete but with instructions for the anagram task written in red, green, or black ink. We

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 5

predicted that participants given red ink will perform worse on the anagram task than those given

green or black ink instructions. That is, red ink participants will correctly unscramble fewer

words than participants given both green ink and black ink, whom we do not expect will differ in

their anagram performance. We also predicted that participants given red ink (compared to green

or black ink) will find the anagram task more challenging for themselves and others and will find

it more frustrating. They will also think that they will perform worse on the task when given red

ink. However, we predicted that all participants, regardless of ink color, will believe that the ink

color did not affect them.

Methods

Participants

There were 115 participants in our study. Of these, 55 were male (47.8%) and 60 were

female (52.2%). The age of the sample ranged from 12 to 69 (M = 26.22, SD = 9.63). This

included 19.1% Caucasian (N = 22), 59.1% Hispanic (N = 68), 6.1% Native American (N = 7),

5.2% African American (N = 6), 4.3% Asian (N = 5), and 6.1% of participants reporting “other”

(N = 7).

Materials and Procedure

Potential participants were randomly approached and informed of the possible risks and

benefits of participating in the study. If the potential participant verbally agreed to take part in

the study, he or she was presented with one of three anagram questionnaires. The questionnaires

contained instructions written in red, green, or black ink; this color manipulation was our

independent variable. Each of the anagram questionnaires consisted of three identical parts and

only differentiated in the color with which the instructions were written.

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 6

In the first part of the questionnaire, the participants were given a timed anagram task to

complete. Without hinting to the color manipulation, participants were reminded to read the

questionnaire instructions carefully and to inform the researcher when they were ready to begin

so that the researcher could start the timer. The anagram task consisted of 20 scrambled words

that the participants had to unscramble by using all of the original letters to form a new word.

For example, BMTUH had to be correctly unscrambled to spell out the word THUMB. The

participants were given three minutes to unscramble as many words as they could and were

notified when they had one minute left to finish the task. After the three minutes, participants

were told to stop and to move on to the next part of the questionnaire.

Part two of the questionnaire consisted of six questions about the anagram task that the

participants completed. These six questions were part of our dependent variables. In the first four

questions the participants recorded their response on a scale of one to nine. In these questions the

participant recorded how challenging the task was for them (1 = not at all challenging, 9 =

extremely challenging), how challenging they thought other participants found the task (1 = not

at all challenging, 9 = extremely challenging), how frustrating they found the task (1 = not at all

frustrating, 9 = very frustrating), and how they thought they did on the anagram task (1 = very

poorly, 9 = very well). The fifth question gave us insight as to whether the participants did or did

not pay attention to the study manipulation. This fifth question asked the participants to recall the

color of the ink used for the instructions (red, green, black, or blue). The last question asked the

participants the extent to which the color ink on the instructions influenced their performance on

the anagram task (1 = decreased my number correct, 9 = increased my number correct).

Part three of the questionnaire asked for the participants’ demographic information. The

participants were asked about their gender, age, race/ ethnicity, whether or not English was their

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 7

first language, if they were a student at Florida International University, and if they were

colorblind. Participants were informed that they were free to leave blank any of the questions

they did not wish to answer in this section. At the end of the study, the participants were

debriefed on the study conditions and hypothesis and were given the answer key to the correct

unscrambled word for the anagram task. Once the study was completed and the participants

debriefed, we used the answer key to determine the number of correct anagrams the participant

solved. Participants were given one point for each anagram they correctly unscrambled so that

the scores would range from zero to twenty.

Our study consisted of seven dependent variables; however, the main dependent variable

of our study is the number of correct anagrams the participants solved. We predicted that

participants given red ink will perform worse on the anagram task than those given green or

black ink instructions. We also predicted that all participants, regardless of ink color, will believe

that the ink color did not affect them.

Results

A chi-square test was done to determine if participants correctly recalled the color of the

ink used in the instructions. Using color manipulation (red, green, or black) as our independent

variable and the color ink participants recalled seeing as the dependent variable, we saw a

significant effect, X2(6) = 153.38, p < .001. Participants in the red condition recalled seeing red

(87.2%); participants in the green condition recalled seeing green (84.6%); and participants in

the black condition recalled seeing black (83.8%). Phi showed a large effect. This indicated that

participants were cognizant of our manipulation (the color of the instructions).

To evaluate our main dependent variable, we ran a One-Way ANOVA with color

manipulation (Red v. Green v. Black) as our independent variable and the number of anagrams

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 8

participants correctly solved as our dependent variable. The ANOVA was significant, F(2, 112)

= 7.20, p < .05. In order to investigate differences in the means, we ran a Tukey LSD post hoc

test. This showed that participants solved fewer anagrams in the red condition (M = 4.87, SD =

1.34) than in both the green (M = 5.72, SD = 1.16) and black (M = 6.10, SD = 1.81) conditions.

The green and black groups, however, did not differ from each other. This supported our

hypothesis that participants given instructions in red ink would perform worse on the anagram

task than participants who were given instructions in green or black ink.

Another dependent variable we were interested in was whether or not participants

believed that the color of ink used in the instructions affected the number of anagrams they

correctly solved. To evaluate this, we ran a One-Way ANOVA with color manipulation (Red v.

Green v. Black) as our independent variable and participant belief of color influence as our

dependent variable. The ANOVA was not significant, F(2, 112) = 1.54, p > .05. This supported

our hypothesis that, regardless of ink color, participants would believe the color ink used in the

instructions did not affect them. In this situation, participants in the red condition (M = 3.18, SD

= 1.59), the green condition (M = 3.10, SD = 1.41), and the black condition (M = 2.65, SD =

1.23) did not differ from one another. Given the fact that the p-value for the ANOVA test was

not significant, we did not need to run a post hoc test.

Discussion

We predicted that instructions written in red ink will impair participant performance on

an anagram task as opposed to instructions written in green or black ink. That is, participants

given instructions written in red ink will correctly unscramble fewer words than participants

given instructions written in green ink or black ink, whom we did not expect to differ in their

anagram performance. We also predicted that all participants, regardless of ink color, would

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 9

believe that the ink color did not affect them. Results supported both of our hypotheses.

Participants in our red condition solved fewer anagrams than those in the green and black

condition, whose performance did not differ. Also participants did not believe that ink color had

any effect on their anagram performance. If participants who were given instructions in red ink

were unaware of the influence the color red had on their performance, what would happen if

participants were forewarned about the influence of color on performance? Would participants

given instructions in red ink perform much worse while participants given black ink instructions

perform much better in the anagram task? Would there be no change in performance? Will we

see other changes? We will explore the influence of forewarning on our second study.

Study Two

As social creatures, humans are constantly influencing and being influenced by the

environment. For example, color has the ability to affect people’s behavioral responses.

However, people may be unaware of these influences on their opinions, behaviors, and actions.

Would forewarning of these influences change the ways in which people otherwise react in a

particular situation? The central aim of our second study is to examine the impact that

forewarning has on performance. Specifically, we want to examine the impact that forewarning

on the negative effects of the color red has on anagram performance.

A study conducted by Petty and Cacioppo (1977), examined the effects that forewarning

about the content of a message had on resisting persuasion. In one if their experiments,

researchers wanted to see if participants who were forewarned about the content of a message

produced counterarguments because they were motivated to do so. Sixty introduction to

psychology students were randomly assigned to the study conditions: warning and instructed to

write topic thoughts, no warning and instructed to write topic thoughts, warning and instructed to

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 10

write actual thoughts, no warning and instructed to write actual thoughts. Students were told that

a psychologist from the counseling center was going to speak to them. Before the psychologist

gave his speech, they were given a questionnaire to complete. Participants in the warning

condition read that the psychologist will be talking about why all freshmen and sophomores

should be required to live on campus (a topic in which the students’ opinions differed from those

of the speaker). Participants in the no warning condition read that the psychologist will be talking

about conclusions he generated in his time working at the counseling center. After a silent three

minutes, participants were asked to move on to the next part of the questionnaire. The next part

asked participants in the actual thoughts condition to record all the thoughts they had during the

last three minutes. Participants in the topic thought condition were asked to record their thoughts

on the matter of freshmen and sophomores being required to live on campus. Afterwards, the

psychologist gave his speech on why freshmen and sophomores should be required to live on

campus. Results showed that participants in the warned condition and the no warning but

instructed to write topic thoughts condition had more resistance to persuasion because thinking

about the topic allowed them to come up with counterarguments.

Leon, Rotunda, Sutton, and Schlossman (2003), studied the influence of online

forewarning on ratings of attraction. Participants were randomly assigned to the forewarning

group or the no forewarning group. All of the participants used a computer to go to the web page

that contained a general statement about the Internet. Participants in the forewarning condition

additionally received information about the use of deception in the Internet. The next part of the

study consisted of navigating through four web pages that contained photographs of a person of

the opposite sex. The participant then rated the attractiveness of each photo and answered

questions about the likeliness of interacting with the person whose photo they saw. Results

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 11

showed that participants forewarned about the use of deception on the Internet perceived the

photo shown as less attractive than those who were not forewarned about the use of deception.

They were also less likely to express the desire of further interaction with the person through

engaging in online chats. These results were consistent with those of Petty and Cacioppo (1977)

in the idea that when forewarned of persuasiveness, people will become more resistant to that

persuasion. In this case, participants became more resistant to deception. In the case of our

second study, we predict that participants forewarned about the influence of red on anagram

performance will perform better than those who were not forewarned due to participants

developing resistance.

Weber and Bizer (2006), studied the effects that forewarning about exam difficulty had

on test performance. The researchers hypothesized that forewarning of test difficulty would

boost performance in students with low anxiety but decrease performance in students with high

anxiety. Before random assignment into one of the three experimental conditions, researchers

measured the level of dispositional anxiety each participant had by having them complete a trait-

anxiety questionnaire. Participants were randomly assigned to: the forewarned condition in

which they were told that the test was difficult, the forewarned condition in which they were told

that the test would be easy, or the no forewarning condition. Then participants were told that they

would be completing a version of a previous GRE and that this test should be taken seriously.

Results showed that students with low trait anxiety performed better when forewarned about the

test being difficult as opposed to easy. Students with high trait anxiety performed worse when

forewarned that the test would be difficult as opposed to easy.

To expand further research on the topic of forewarning, we have devised a study that

looks at the effect that forewarning of the color red has on anagram performance. Participants

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 12

were randomly assigned to a forewarning or a no forewarning condition. In the no forewarning

condition participants were given an anagram task with instructions written in either red or black

ink. In the forewarning condition participants were informed about the effect that the color red

has on performance before given an anagram task with instruction written in either red or black

ink.

In accordance with study one, we predicted that participants who were given red ink

instructions will solve fewer anagrams than those given black ink. We also predicted that those

given a warning about ink color and anagram performance will perform better on the anagram

task as compared to those who were not forewarned. We predicted that frustration will impact

participants’ performance. Specifically, we predicted that those in the black ink condition

regardless of warning will find the anagram task less frustrating than those in the red ink

condition. Those in the red ink condition who were forewarned will find the task less frustrating

than those who were not forewarned. We expected no difference in the level of frustration of

those in the black ink condition who received a warning. We predicted that when asked how

frustrating they thought other participants found the task, there will be no difference in the red

ink and black ink conditions. We also predicted that those in the red ink condition would feel

they would have performed better if they were not forewarned vs. those in the black ink

condition who would feel forewarning would not have made a difference in their performance.

Methods

Participants

There were 227 participants in study two. Of these, 82 were male (37.1%) and 139 were

female (62.9%). The age of the sample ranged from 15 to 63 (M = 23.51, SD = 7.58). This

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 13

included 14.4% Caucasian (N = 32), 68.5% Hispanic (N = 152), 9.0% African American (N =

20), 1.4% Asian (N = 3), and 6.8% of participants reporting “other” (N = 15).

Materials and Procedure

Potential participants were asked to partake in an online study with the benefit of aiding

the completion of our research. If the potential participant agreed to take part in the study, he or

she was given the link of the online survey created through Qualtrics, a survey software. Before

starting the survey, the participants were presented with an online consent form that informed

them of the possible risks and benefits of participating in the study, and had to indicate their

agreement by clicking the “I choose to participate” button in order to continue with the study.

Our study two was composed of four parts and used the same color manipulation as in study one,

but instead of three conditions we used two conditions (red ink and black ink).

In the first part of the study, participants were randomly assigned to one of four

conditions: forewarning red, forewarning black, no forewarning red, no forewarning black. In the

forewarning red condition, participants were forewarned about the color red and then given

instructions written in red ink. In the forewarning black condition, participants were forewarned

about the color red and then given instructions written in black ink. In the no forewarning red

condition, participants were not forewarned about the color red and received instructions written

in red ink. In the no forewarning black condition, participants were not forewarned about the

color red and received instructions written in black ink. Participants in the forewarning condition

were given a statement that read “The color red may carry the meaning of failure and avoidance

in achievement contexts. It may unconsciously affect levels of frustration and anxiety, which in

turn leads to poor performance levels. Prior research suggests that participants whom are given

instructions in red may experience higher levels of frustration and solve fewer anagrams than

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 14

participants given instructions in black”. All participants received anagram tests with identical

parts and only differentiated in the color of the instructions (red ink or black ink).

Resembling study one, the second part of the study exposed participants to the

instructions of the anagram test which were written in either red ink or black ink. Once the

participants read the instructions they had to click the “continue” button to begin the anagram

test. The test used different anagrams from those of study one. The anagram test consisted of 20

scrambled words and the participant had to unscramble as many as they could in three minutes.

A timer on the computer screen indicated when the three minutes had passed. After the three

minutes, participants were able to view the answers to the anagram test and calculate their score.

One point was given for each right answer.

In the third part of the study, participants were presented with seven questions about the

anagram task they completed. These seven questions were part of our dependent variables. The

first question asked the participants to record how many anagrams they correctly solved. The

second question gave us insight as to whether the participants were attentive to the color

manipulation. This second question asked the participants to recall the color of the ink used for

the instructions (black, red, green, or blue). On the last five questions the participants recorded

their responses on a scale of one to nine. In these questions participants recorded how

challenging the task was for them (1 = not at all challenging, 9 = very challenging), how

frustrating they found the task (1 = not at all frustrating, 9 = very frustrating), if they thought

forewarning of the effects of the color red on performance would cause someone to perform

better or worse than someone not warned (1 = worse than someone not warned, 9 = better than

someone not warned), to what extent the color ink on the instructions influenced their

performance (1 = decreased my number correct, 9 = increased my number correct), and to what

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 15

extent did being forewarned influence their performance (1 = decreased my number correct, 9 =

increased my number correct).

The fourth part of our study asked for the participants’ demographic information. These

questions asked for their gender, age, ethnicity, if English was their first language, if they were a

student at Florida International University, and if they were colorblind. After completing the

study, the participants were debriefed on the study conditions and hypothesis.

Our study two consisted of seven dependent variables; however, our main interest was

the number of anagrams participants correctly solved. Another dependent variable we analyzed

was the extent participants thought that being forewarned influenced their performance. We also

analyzed the interaction between ink color and forewarning.

Results

A manipulation check using color manipulation (red or black ink) as the independent

variable and the color ink participants recalled seeing as the dependent variable was significant,

χ2 (1) = 31.62, p < .001. Most participants in the red ink condition correctly recalled that the

instructions were written in red (65%) while most participants in the black in condition correctly

recalled that the instructions were written in black (67.7%). Phi showed a medium effect. This

indicated that participants were cognizant of the ink color in the instructions (See Appendix A).

To evaluate our main dependent variable, we ran a 2 X 2 factorial ANOVA with color

condition (red v. black) and forewarning condition (forewarning v. no forewarning) as our

independent variables and the number of anagrams participants correctly solved as our dependent

variable. There was no main effect for forewarning, F(1, 223) = 2.68, p > .05. This indicated that

there was no difference in the number of anagrams correctly solved in the no forewarning (M =

8.31, SD = 4.49) versus forewarning (M = 9.13, SD = 4.83) conditions. We found a significant

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 16

condition effect for the color condition, F(1, 223) = 8.70, p < .05. Participants solved more

anagrams in the black condition (M = 9.53, SD = 4.87) than the red condition (M = 7.74, SD =

4.24). We also analyzed the interaction between the independent variables (color condition and

forewarning condition) and the dependent variable (number of anagrams correct). We found a

significant interaction effect between color condition and forewarning condition, F(1, 223) =

8.07, p < .05. First, in the red condition, simple effects showed that participants solved more

anagrams in the forewarning condition (M = 9.10, SD = 4.40) than the no forewarning condition

(M = 6.40, SD = 3.64), F(1, 101) = 11.48, p < .05. Second, in the black condition, simple effects

showed that participants solved a similar number of anagrams in the forewarning (M = 9.16, SD

= 5.19) and no forewarning (M = 9.89, SD = 4.54) conditions, F(1, 122) = 0.69, p > .05. Third,

for participants in the no forewarning condition, simple effects tests showed they solved more

anagrams in the black condition (M = 9.89, SD = 4.54) than the red condition (M = 6.40, SD =

3.64), F(1, 113) = 19.98, p < .05. Fourth, for participants who were forewarned, simple effect

tests showed that they solved a similar number of anagrams in the red (M = 9.10, SD = 4.40) and

black (M = 9.16, SD = 5.19) conditions, F(1, 110) = .005, p > .05 (See Appendix B).

Another dependent variable we were interested in was the extent participants thought that

being forewarned influenced the number of anagrams they correctly solved. To evaluate this, we

ran another 2 X 2 ANOVA with color condition (red v. black) and forewarning condition

(forewarning v. no forewarning) as our independent variables and participant belief of

forewarning influence as our dependent variable. There was no main effect for forewarning, F(1,

220) = 0.03, p > .05. This meant that participants did not think being forewarned influenced the

number of anagrams they correctly solved. Participants in the forewarning condition (M = 5.05,

SD = 1.59) did not differ from those in the no forewarning condition (M = 5.04, SD = 1.45).

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 17

Likewise, there was no main effect for the color condition, F(1, 220) = 0.23, p > .05. Participants

in the red condition (M = 5.10, SD = 1.62) and participants in the black condition (M = 5.00, SD

= 1.44) did not think forewarning influenced the number of anagrams they correctly solved.

Additionally, there was no significant interaction effect of forewarning and color condition F(1,

220) = 0.94, p > .05. Participants in the forewarning red condition (M = 5.22, SD = 1.53),

forewarning black condition (M = 4.92, SD = 1.65), no forewarning red condition (M = 4.98, SD

= 1.73), or no forewarning black condition (M = 5.08, SD = 1.21) did not think that being

forewarned influenced the number of anagrams they correctly solved (See Appendix C).

Discussion

In accordance with study one, we predicted a main effect for the color condition, with

participants given red ink performing worse on the anagram task than those given black ink. We

also predicted that those given a warning about ink color and anagram performance would

perform better on the anagram task compared to those who were not forewarned. Additionally,

we predicted that those in the red ink condition would feel they would have performed better if

they were not forewarned vs. those in the black ink condition who would feel forewarning would

not have made a difference in their performance. Results supported only our first hypothesis.

Consistent with study one, participants given instructions in red ink solved fewer anagrams than

those who were given instructions in black ink. Results did not support our hypothesis that

forewarning alone would increase performance on the anagram task. There was actually no

difference in the number of anagrams correctly solved in the forewarning and no forewarning

condition; however, there was an interaction between the forewarning condition and the color

condition. Participants who were given instructions in red ink and had no forewarning solved

fewer anagrams than all the other participants. Participants in the black ink and red ink

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 18

conditions who were forewarned solved a similar number of anagrams. This result may be due to

participants in the forewarning condition being able to ignore the red ink color. Results did not

support our last hypothesis that participants in the red ink condition who were forewarned would

feel they would have performed better if they were not forewarned. All participants, regardless of

condition, believed that forewarning did not influence the number of anagrams they correctly

solved.

General Discussion

In assessing the effect of color priming on anagram performance, we predicted that

instructions written in red ink would impair performance. This hypothesis was supported in both

study one and study two. In both studies participants given instructions written in red ink

performed much worse than those given instructions in either green or black ink. These findings

reinforce the conclusion of Elliot et al. (2007) that red impairs performance on achievement tasks

because it activates avoidance motivation and is associated with the danger of failure. The results

of study one also revealed that participants were unaware of the effect ink color had on their

performance. Such findings suggest that when administering or taking part in an achievement

task one should be cautious as to priming the color red. For example, teachers often administer

different versions of an exam in an effort to reduce cheating. Such versions of the exam are

usually color coded. As a result, teachers must take care not to use the color red on such versions

otherwise students given a version with the color red may perform worse than other students.

Regarding the effect that forewarning about the negative influence that the color red has

on performance, we predicted that participants who were forewarned would perform better on

the anagrams task than those who were not forewarned. By itself, forewarning did not produce

any effect in the number of anagrams solved in the forewarning and no forewarning conditions.

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 19

However, participants who were not forewarned and were given instructions in red ink

performed worse than all other participants, whereas those who were forewarned and received

instructions in red ink performed equally well as participants who were given instructions in

black ink. These findings are similar to those of Petty and Cacioppo (1977) and those of Leon,

Rotunda, Sutton, and Schlossman (2003) in that forewarning of a particular influence may lead

to resisting that influence. In the case of study two, forewarning of the negative effect of the

color red may have led participants to ignore the color red while completing the anagram task.

This resulted in counteracting the negative effect that instructions written in red ink had. Going

back to the example of administering a test, it may be helpful to inform students of a possible

effect that color in the test versions may have on their performance and to ask them to ignore the

color.

There were several possible limitations to our study. Our study used a small number of

participants which may have affected the results. Also most of our participants were college

students. The level of interest and attention that each participant paid to the anagram task as well

as the honesty of their answers were also possible limitations. Possible problems with the online

survey may have surfaced, such as answers being marked wrong when they were right. Future

studies may recruit a larger and more diverse pool of participants. If specifically looking at how

the color red may impact test performance, it would be wise to use a classroom setting as most

tests are administered in a classroom full of people. In addition, just as tests are administered to

people at a certain level of knowledge it may be useful to use anagrams that match the cognitive

level of the individual. Administering an anagram to a twelve-year-old could have different

results than administering the same anagram task to a thirty-year-old. Future research may also

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 20

measure individuals’ anxiety levels before and after the test to see how the color red directly

influences anxiety and to what extent that influences performance.

Colors are an essential part of life and may have the potential to influence our thoughts,

behaviors, and actions in more ways than we think. The present study found that the color red

unconsciously impaired performance on an anagram test. This is an important finding that

schools and test administrators should find useful. Students spend the majority of their time in

school and being administered different tests, it is important to know that the use of red in any

part of examinations should be avoided as to prevent students performing lower than their

potential.

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 21

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COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 23

Appendix A – Manipulation Check – Recall the color ink used in the instructions

COLOR PRIMING AND FOREWARNING 24

Appendix B –Ink color * Forewarning – Number of anagrams correct

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Appendix C – Ink color * Forewarning – Belief that forewarning influenced performance