In one study, students in British Columbia scored higher on memory tasks when completing them on a red background.
Stimuli with white foreground on red background can have a higher level of contrast compared to the other colour combination. Similarly, the use of a white colour background with black colour foreground has a better contrast level for memory retention for both short-term and long-term (32).
1) Green: Concentration
You probably know this already, just by taking a look at a forest or a field. Low wavelength colors promote restfulness and calm, and they improve efficiency and focus. So that's why green is an excellent color for improving concentration.
Greene, Bell, and Boyer (1983) also argues that warm colors such as red, yellow and orange have a greater effect on human memory in retaining information than cool colors such as brown and grey.
Which Colors Boost Memory? According to a study at the University of British Columbia, certain colors can help with concentration and attention span, facilitating memory retention and learning. The study concluded that red and blue colors are the best for enhancing cognitive skills and improving brain function.
Memory for the color of an object was higher for red-colored objects compared to blue and green-colored objects, whereas no significant difference in color memory between red and yellow-colored objects was observed.
Green – Quiet and restful, green is a soothing color that can invite harmony and diffuse anxiety. Blue – A highly peaceful color, blue can be especially helpful for stress management because it can encourage a powerful sense of calm.
While elementary learners tend to gravitate more towards the yellows, reds, and oranges, high school learners tend to learn best in environments with the cooler colors: greens, blues, and mauves. The primary color wheel warmer colors tend to boost energy, excitement for learning, and mood.
Research studies discovered red to be the best color light to help you sleep, because it increases production of melatonin as well as full darkness. On the other end of the spectrum, blue is the worst. Despite being a calm-inducing color on most occasions, blue is not suitable for lighting a bedroom.
Purple. Purple's pale side imparts a sense of calm on a workspace. Use purple paint in a child's bedroom (or any area someone is studying) to enhance learning. This hue's calming effect reduces the effort required in thinking and helps the brain make cognitive connections more easily.
Recent psychological studies suggest that reading and writing text in color increases the likelihood that you will remember the information. For example, one experiment found that a group of students had greater recall with blue text than with black by 27%.
Orange is also known to be a color of motivation, which lends a positive attitude and general enthusiasm for life.
"Shades of blue or green are always very calming. Blues are especially known to have a relaxing effect perfect for creating a serene feeling at home," says Nicole Gibbons, interior designer and founder of Clare Paint.
Avoiding colors that can induce anxiety is a good start. Stay away from bright, bold, and intense colors. Colors like red and orange increase anxiety and stress, sometimes even fear. Red and orange are associated with an emergency that can elicit images of emergency vehicles with their lights and sirens on.
Memory color effect can be derived from the human instinct to memorize objects better. Comparing the effect of recognizing gray-scaled images and colored images, results showed that people were able to recall colored images 5% higher compared to gray-scaled images.
The color orange encourages critical thinking and memory. Studies have shown that orange has a particularly high effect on circulation and the nervous system.
While red enhances memory for negative words, green has the opposite effect, enhancing memory for positive words (Kuhbandner & Pekrun, 2013).
Pink brings strong positive energy into your environment. Mood-lifting yellow is another colour that belongs to the fire element.
The most effective colors to improve productivity are blue, green, yellow, and orange. These colors provide a neutral environment while still creating an invigorating effect.
Blue is considered the most productive colour, as it promotes calm and a state of flow, Chambers said. A 2009 study from the University of British Columbia found that blue also boosts creativity.
Red is the color of power. It gets people's attention and holds it. It is the most popular color for marketing.
Writing notes in blue ink won't have a huge impact on your retention; however, blue notes will still be memorable because blue is known to be a trustworthy color that resonates within people. What's the best ink color to take notes in? Based on my research, there is no one ink color that enhances memory retention.
Green. Green is considered an emotionally calming color. It gives a sense of refreshment, harmony, and equilibrium.