Term Paper on "How Do Colors Effect the Moods of Children?"

Term Paper 5 pages (2090 words) Sources: 10 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Color and Mood

It is impossible to overestimate the impact of color in human society.. Even at night, many people dream in color. A great deal of research has demonstrated that colors also have a strong emotional effect (e.g., Ballast, 2002). Other studies in the field of psychiatry have shown how certain colors are liked or disliked depending on the situation. Clearly there is a close link between colors and emotions. Rorschach tests show that some people who are more emotional will react quite freely to the effect of most colors. Other individuals are more emotionally withdrawn and may be upset or embarrassed by the use of certain colors. Such color correlations begin very early. From the earliest age, children see colors all around them. Lawler and Lawler (1965) found that children used yellow crayons to color after listening to a happy story and a brown crayon to color with when hearing a sad story. If children are affected by color, should teachers be using this as a technique or a tool in their classrooms? Could a certain color room impact the mood of the students? or, could a certain color light in the room help with discipline? Today's teachers have a wide variety of students in their room, including children with very different special needs. In the future, classrooms will become even more demographically diverse. It is true that many variables impact the students in the classroom, most importantly the ability of the teacher, but perhaps color could also be used as a means of assisting the educators enhance the environment.

Children's emotional reaction to colors was investigated in a study by Boyatzis and Varghese (1994). Sixty boys and girls, who were equally divided into two groups of 5-year-olds and 6-1/2-year-olds, were asked about their favorite color. The researcher then one at a time randomly showed them nine different colors. Each child was asked after seeing each color, "How does this color make you feel?" Every child could give a verbal response about the effect of each color. The children's responses showed a clear emotional association with each color. They reacted positively to the bright colors such as pink, blue, and red, and responded negatively to the darker colors such as brown, black, gray. The emotional response to bright colors became more positive with older children. Girls particularly showed a like for brighter colors and a dislike for darker colors. Boys were more apt than girls to feel positive about dark colors. Researchers have also found an association with words and colors, showing how colors can impact the language part of the brain. There were also similarities between the word and color association and some among countries, indicating that reaction to color may be innate as well as learned.

Color elicits a response from human beings, since the energy produced by the light that carries color impacts body functions, the brain and emotion. In 1976, Kuller showed how color and visual patterning affects the cortex as well as the central nervous system. In addition, color has been shown to impact the level of alpha brain wave activity that is used in the medical field to measure human alertness. Similarly, when color is transmitted through the human eye, the brain releases the hormone, hypothalamus, which affects moods, mental clarity and energy level.

Hupka et. al (1997) studied the association of emotion and color in Mexico, Germany, Russia, Poland, and the U.S. Approximately 660 undergraduate students responded to what degree twelve separate colors were associated with the words anger, envy, fear, and jealousy. In each country, the colors of black and red was associated with anger, black was associated with fear, and red was associated with jealousy. Differences also existed between cultures. Poles also correlated anger, envy, and jealousy with the color purple; Germans associated yellow with envy and jealousy; and Americans associated red, black, green, with envy and Russians associated black, purple, and yellow with this word.

The experience that students have in school and their chance of successfully completing their educational program are based on a many different variables. Naturally, the quality and ability of the teacher is of significant importance. When a teacher is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about his or her subject, students will also become more interested. Other factors include the size of the class, spending per child, the socio-economic makeup of the school, and the students' abilities. It is clearly recognized that a school that is not kept up physically due to budgetary concerns or one that is kept in high security mode due to a concern of children's safety will impact the students. Other interior factors can also have an impact, as well.

Montessori schools were one of the first educational establishments to recognize the importance of the physical environment in a child's education (Lillard 1972). Maria Montessori argued that the classroom environment should be specifically designed to support academics and to nourish the child.

A study by McCoy, Mitchell, and Evans (2002) researched the creativity of college students in environments with a variety of interior decor. In all, 75 environments were compared on factors of nature, challenge, freedom, support, coherence, threatening, and status quo. In one group, the participants' feelings of creativity were recorded when looking at these environments. In another group, subjects was tested on performance of creative tasks in two separate environments, one rated high for creativity and one rated low. The students were asked to think of novel ideas and to construct collages. The researchers found that creativity increased in environments with 1) complex visual detail, 2) a view of natural surroundings 3) the use of natural materials over manmade materials, and 4)warmer over cooler colors. The results indicated that an interior environment can effect cognitive function and demonstrates ways that such environments can be altered to enhance creativity which, in turn, may improve student involvement, output, and attitudes.

Wohlfarth (1985) studied four Canadian elementary schools with a homogeneous student population in regards to race and socio-economic background. In one school, the fluorescent lighting was changed to full spectrum bulbs. In another, the classrooms were repainted specifically chosen colors. The third school underwent changes in color and lighting. The fourth school was the control. A warm light yellow color was chosen to stimulate student arousal levels, with the researchers analyzing effect through changes on student and staff blood pressure and mood. In the afternoons, students in the experimental schools had significantly lower blood pressure than those in the control school. The mornings indicated no difference. Students in the school that were in environments with changes in both light and color showed significant increases in measures of self-esteem and decreases in measures of sadness and aggression. A lower number of absences in the schools where changes were made was also evidenced.

More recently, Young (2003) conducted a research study based on data from public schools in Tennessee and found a statistically significant relationship between student achievement and the condition of a school. In most cases, students from newer schools had higher scores on standardized tests. The authors comment on how commercial, retail and entertainment businesses spend billions on the interior of their establishments, since they realize that the design effects their customers. Similarly, the condition of a school can impact the students' feeling of safety, sense of self, and emotional state. The researchers suggested that poor school facilities weaken other educational efforts. It is not reasonable to believe that similar academic results will come from students who are in a negative physical environment. Well maintained school facilities demonstrate to students that they are worth something and someone cares about them. Naturally, in this case as in others regarding the impact of physical surroundings, other factors are impacting the students as well. When such physical conditions exist, one can assume that the level of spending is not as high overall. However, the condition of the school is one of many negative factors impacting the students.

Young (2003) also found that full-spectrum lighting in a classroom improves student attendance and performance and lower noise levels promoted higher student achievement. Further, a relationship exists between school interior colors and student physiology. Particularly, calm shades of blue decreased student blood pressure. The authors concluded that although it is not possible to control many educational factors, schools can fully use those factors that are controllable and advantageous to the students.

Vining (2006) wanted to determine how the students' opinion of their school's environment would impact their attitude about their school overall. Student opinions were measured in feelings of school pride, responsibility, control, fondness, and enjoyment. The three areas of focus were lighting, color, and materials including student art work, which were identified as major factors of a school's interior environment and as nonstructural elements that were possible to improve in schools without any major costs of renovation. The researcher surveyed sixth-grade students from two West Philadelphia public schools in the same neighborhood. The schools characterized different decades of construction and interior elements. Penn Alexander was constructed with… READ MORE

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