1. Running head: EFFECT OF PAPER COLOR ON ARITHMETIC PERFORMANCE 1
Effect of Paper Color on Arithmetic Performance
Jorden Jelinek
Glendale Community College, AZ

2. EFFECT OF PAPER COLOR ON ARITHMETIC PERFORMANCE 2
Abstract
Humans, like any other animal, are guided and shaped by the perceptions of the world around
them. In the case of humans, color appears to have a profound effect on these perceptions and
our consequential choices. Previous research has found red to have a deleterious effect on
academic performance, but not as an outright effect, rather as a trigger that can potentially cause
an effect. The correlation didn’t meet the criterion for significance or the IV of color, wasn’t
vibrant and had a reduced effect in much of the existing research. Red appears to induce
localized processing and cripple global processing. This research was designed to use a limited
amount of time to induce anxiety and amplify the effect of color. Additionally, vibrant colors
were used to maximize the effect of color alone. Participants included predominately White and
Hispanic undergraduates from a large community college in the southwest (N = 135, 48%
female). Materials for IV was differently colored paper with four levels; red, green, white and
blue. Participants were assigned to conditions with block randomization. Participants were given
two minutes to complete the test. DV was measured by performance on a 2x1 arithmetic test. A
one way ANOVA was conducted for color across correct and incorrect answers in high, medium
and low anxiety categories. Answers were coded as correct, incorrect or not attempted. A
semantic differential self report scale used to assess anxiety was coded into high, medium and
low categories. A negative correlation between incorrect answers and anxiety was found, in that the
higher the participants’ anxiety level was,the fewer questions they answered incorrectly, r = .17, p = .05,
r2
= .03. No correlation between correct answers and anxiety was found, r = -.14, p = .11. When
participants made a mistake, they made it most frequently under high anxiety in the red color
condition.
Keywords: performance, arithmetic, perception, color, cognition

3. EFFECT OF PAPER COLOR ON ARITHMETIC PERFORMANCE 3
Effect of Paper Color on Arithmetic Performance
Humans, like any other animal, are guided and shaped by the perceptions of the world
around them. In the case of humans, color appears to have a profound effect on these perceptions
and our consequential choices, from the things we choose to eat and what to avoid, to our
emotions and mood. Knowing this, it is somewhat curious that for examinations of academic
performance and ability, varying colors of paper are used. If it is indeed the case that color has an
effect so profound that it can even alter performance, then it would serve well to know, so that
academia may avoid unintended alterations of the results of their performance measures. To that
end, existing research has shown that this may not be a widespread issue. However, in some
instances, paper color has made a remarkable difference.
Sinclair, R. C., Soldat, A. S., & Mark, M. M. (1998) studied the effects of External cues
(color) and their influence on processing strategy in academic examinations. The researchers
performed a within subjects design and collected data during regularly scheduled examinations
in the participants' usual classroom. The researchers used deception, presenting the examination
as though two versions existed, when really both forms contained identical material in the same
order. The only difference between the forms was the color; Wausau Papers Astrobrights Rocket
Red or Wausau Papers Astrobrights Lunar Blue. The examination was 75 multiple-choice that
tested knowledge of factual information, ability to apply concepts and integrate them.
Participants were assigned to conditions randomly within gender. Once the examination was
concluded, the researchers fully debriefed participants and assured them that scores would be
adjusted to control for color effects. The researchers performed an item analysis of the test
materials to categorize questions; if 65% of participants correctly responded to an question, they
categorized it as simple. The rest were regarded as difficult questions. The researchers deleted

4. EFFECT OF PAPER COLOR ON ARITHMETIC PERFORMANCE 4
one question as it was a bad one, however, inclusion of this item didn't change the results in a
significant manner. 30 questions were regarded as simple, 44 as difficult. The data showed the
main effect of color to be significant in a mixed model ANOVA (Color X Difficulty).
Participants with the blue color coded exam forms outperformed students with the red color
coded exam forms.
Skinner, N.F. (2004) studied the effect of color on the performance of multiple choice
academic exams. Participants entered a tiered classroom and chose their seating. 60 item
introductory psychology midterm tests printed in black ink were distributed in the following
order: white-blue-red-green-yellow. No proximal students received the same color test.
Questions were identical and in identical order on all tests. Participants chose their answers
directly from the tests, on the tests. Tests were graded by two independent scorers. Researchers
found that while there was no significant effect among the experimental conditions, the control
condition showed significantly better scores, suggesting the main effect of using any color was
significant. Gender did not play a role in determining scores. Tal, I. R., Akers, K. G., & Hodge,
G. K. (2008) also studied the effect of differently colored paper and question order on academic
exams. 594 undergraduate introductory psychology students (364 men, 230 women) took a 40-
question multiple choice exam based on their textbook and lecture content. The exam was
printed in black ink on one of five colors; white, primary red, primary yellow, primary green,
primary blue. Within each of these color conditions, questions were either order sequentially or
randomly. Seating was unassigned, but participants could not have proximal participants with the
same exam color. Researchers found that the participants performed better on the white exams
than all other colors. Question order and gender had no effect. Tal, I. R., Akers, K. G., & Hodge,
G. K. (2008) did a replication of this experiment, in which a fresh group of 681 undergraduate

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psychology students (434 men, 247 women) completed a 40 question multiple choice exam
under nearly identical conditions as Experiment 1. However, in this experiment, exams were
printed in black ink on white, pastel pink, pastel yellow, pastel green or pastel blue paper. The
researchers found no statistically significant results for the effects of gender, question order or
paper color.
Martinez, Oberle & Thompson (2010) studied the effect of color as an environmental cue
in encoding and retrieving memories. The researchers used a between-subjects design with
random assignment to one of four experimental conditions. The participants were expected to
read an excerpt from The Holistic Guide to Canine Health and then test their retention of the
material on a 25 question multiple-choice test. The excerpt and test were printed in black ink on
paper that was either pastel red or pastel green. The conditions were as follows: red excerpt, red
test; red excerpt, green test; green excerpt, green test; green excerpt, red test. The participants
received the reading passage and were instructed to read and study the passage for 10 minutes.
Following the 10-minute study period, the passages were collected and the tests were distributed.
The participants were given 5 minutes to complete the test, after which, the tests were collected
and the experiment was concluded. The researchers took care to avoid a color luminance
confound and is the main reason why only two colors were chosen. The secondary reason was to
avoid the negative practice and carryover effects associated with a between-subjects design. The
tertiary reason was to ensure an adequate number of participants in each condition for sufficient
statistical power. The researchers produced results that suggest color has a small effect on
performance of encoding and retrieval. For the encoding portion, researchers very closely
approached statistical significance. Test scores for participants who read the passage on green
paper were higher than those who read the passage on red paper. Even still, the researchers didn’t

6. EFFECT OF PAPER COLOR ON ARITHMETIC PERFORMANCE 6
meet the exact alpha level criterion. Martinez, Oberle & Thompson (2010) conducted a
replication of this experiment in which a larger number of colors and a design with greater
ecological validity was used. The researchers used a between subjects design and randomly
assigned participants to one of five color conditions; white, pastel blue, pastel yellow, pastel
green, pastel pink. All participants were given a sheet containing an excerpt from The Holistic
Guide to Canine Health in black ink on white paper. The participants were instructed to study the
passage for 10 minutes. The participants were then given tests in black ink on one of five
differently colored papers corresponding exactly to each condition. The participants were given 5
minutes to complete a 25 question multiple choice test regarding the material in the passage.
Once the tests were collected, the experiment was concluded. The researchers used a one-way
independent measures ANOVA to analyze the data. No statistically significant results were
found for the effect of paper.color on encoding or retrieval.
Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2007) studied the effect of color on psychological
functioning. Specifically how red influences motivation and performance compared to a
chromatic opposite and an achromatic control. Participants in a between subjects design were
shown a red, gray or green cover on an IQ test and then completed a visual match-making test to
determine local processing of stimuli versus global. Participants then completed an IQ test. After
the results were collected and the experiment concluded, all participants were given full
debriefing to get a full understanding of their awareness of the purpose of the experiment.
Results show that participants who were shown the red cover performed significantly worse on
the IQ test than those shown green or gray. The visual matchmaking test revealed that those
shown the red cover were using more local processing which contributed to their poor
performance on the IQ test. Smajic, A., Merritt, S., Banister, C., & Blinebry, A. (2014) also

7. EFFECT OF PAPER COLOR ON ARITHMETIC PERFORMANCE 7
studied the various effects resultant from the color red on exam performance with greatly
contrasting results. In a between subjects design. participants from an upper level management
course regarding organizational behavior were given a cognitive task in the form of a multiple
choice in class exam. The exam was the third taken by participants in their class and was worth
20% of their final course grade. The exam was given to four class sections in identical form. The
average score across these sections was 73.56%. Upon completion of the exam, participants
provided informed consent before answering research related questions. Participants were then
instructed to rate their anxiety level during the exam. After which, participants exams scores
were obtained from the course instructors upon informed consent. If a significant effect size was
found resultant from the researchers' manipulation, the researchers would then correct the scores
based on the effect size found, to preserve ethical integrity. The data showed no significant effect
with regard to color and showed no significant relationship between the color condition and
anxiety.
Previous research has found varying and even contradicting results. We extended this
research by using different colors. In our experiment, participants were tested on 49 arithmetic
questions in a two-minute time frame. Participants read and wrote their answers on the same
sheet of paper. Tests were printed in black ink on four different colors of paper; red, yellow, blue
and white as control. Upon completion of the test, participants filled out a questionnaire detailing
their favorite color and level of anxiety during the test. We hypothesized that color will not affect
performance, believing that the effect of color on performance had been exaggerated, given the
sometimes inconclusive and contradicting results of existing research.
Method
Participants

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The participants consisted of a clustered convenience sample of 135 undergraduate
students (60 men and 75 women) from a large, urban community college in the southwest. Of
those asked to participate, 96% agreed. Data from an additional 11 participants were excluded
because researcher error during one of the experiments caused them to be without their
participant numbers. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 47 years with a mean age of 21 years
(SD=4.49). When participants reported their primary ethnic background, most of them identified
as White (44%), Hispanic/Latino (38%), Asian (5%), Other(11%), American Indian/Native
American (4%), or African-American/Black (4%). There were 27-38 participants per condition;
27 were in the white condition, 36 were in red condition, 34 were in the blue condition and 38
were in the green condition. Participants did not receive any compensation from the researchers
for participating. Ethical standards were met, and the project received IRB approval.
Materials
Materials included a 49-question 2x1 multiplication, addition and subtraction arithmetic
test and a questionnaire. Our independent variable was the paper color of the math test, and there
were four levels, re-entry red, lunar blue, gamma green and standard white as control. (see
Appendix A). Our dependent variable was academic performance, and it was operationalized by
performance on a 49-question 2x1 multiplication, addition and subtraction arithmetic test (see
Appendix A). Our demographic questionnaire contained standard demographic questions on
gender, age, and ethnic background. Additionally, the questionnaire contained questions
regarding participants’ favorite color, what color test participants received, the date participants
last took a math class, how fond participants are of math and how anxious students were during
the experiment. (see Appendix B).

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Procedure
The experimental design was a between subjects single factor multi-level independent
groups design. We conducted the experimental sessions at the beginning of class in seven
different classes across a variety of disciplines. We assigned participants to conditions by block
randomization because we wanted to ensure maximum saturation of the conditions with
participants. All students who were willing to participate signed a consent form. Participants then
completed a 49-question 2x1 multiplication, addition and subtraction arithmetic test, then
completed the demographic questionnaire. The questionnaire included a 1-5 semantic differential
scale to assess participants’ fondness of math and anxiety felt during the experiment. The
questionnaire also included a question to determine if participants were colorblind and if so,
what type. The questionnaire also asked participants what their most recently completed level of
math was and how recently they completed it. Participants were given a two minute limit on
time to take the math test. Participants were thanked and debriefed, and the experiment lasted 15
minutes.
Results
Participants were given two minutes to complete a 49-question 2x1 addition, subtraction
and multiplication arithmetic test. Responses were scored across number correct and number
incorrect. Participants completed a 1-5 semantic differential scale on the demographic
questionnaire regarding anxiety felt during the experiment and fondness of math. Anxiety was
broken into 3 levels based on the response to the scale. One and two were treated as a low
anxiety category, three as medium anxiety and four and five as high anxiety. Our alpha level was
set to .05 for all analyses. We correlated anxiety with correct and incorrect answers. No
correlation between anxiety and correct answers was found r= -.14 p= .11. A negative correlation

10. EFFECT OF PAPER COLOR ON ARITHMETIC PERFORMANCE 10
between anxiety and incorrect answers was found r=.17 p = .05 r2 = .3.
For the participants who reported high anxiety (4-5), we conducted a one way between-
subjects ANOVAs across the four color conditions, F(3.33) = 2.78 p = .6, 𝜂2 =.20. The average
incorrect answers across the four color conditions in the high anxiety category were as follows:
Red (M = 2.73, SD = 1.84), White (M = 1.83, SD = 1.72), Blue (M = 1.00, SD = 1.41) and Green
(M = 1.08, SD = 1.24). (see Figure 1). No difference was found among high anxiety and correct
answers across the four color conditions, F=(3.33)=2.00 p=.13. The average correct answers
across the four color conditions in the high anxiety category were as follows: Red (M = 19.36,
SD = 7.59), White (M = 16.17, SD = 4.87), Blue (M = 24.25, SD = 8.07) and Green (M =
16.67, SD = 5.81) For the low and medium anxiety groups, no color effect on correct and
incorrect answers was found.
Figure 1. Number of incorrect answers of answers attempted in the high anxiety category.
Graphic shows that the majority average of incorrect answers were present in red color
condition.
Discussion

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We hypothesized that color would not affect performance, believing that the effect of
color on performance had been exaggerated, given the sometimes inconclusive and contradicting
results of existing research. Contrary to expectations, the data did not support this hypothesis for
participants in the high anxiety group in the red color condition. Results show that participants
who were most anxious tended to make fewer mistakes. Participants in the high anxiety group
performed similarly across the color conditions and had the most attempted problems with the
most correct answers with the exception of red, which had the most incorrect answers. While
paper color doesn’t appear to affect most people, red negatively affected high anxiety
participants. There was no significant difference between the low and medium anxiety groups
between color conditions, further suggesting that anxiety plays a role in the effect of color. This
is supported by Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2007) who showed that participants who saw the
color red performed poorly on visual matchmaking tests, which suggested a deleterious effect in
brain processing. More specifically, global processing was replaced with local processing, which
leads to what is known as the red effect. On the other hand, Skinner, N.F. (2004) showed that
participants in the white color control condition on a 60 item introductory psychology test
performed significantly better than any of the color conditions. However, our data showed that
participants in the white condition high anxiety group had the second most incorrect answers
overall.
Our research is susceptible to experimenter effects resultant from different numbers of
researchers in each classroom. While it is unfortunate that we did not have the same researchers
present in the same numbers across all experimental sessions, it was also rather difficult to avoid
due to personal reasons and other clashes of scheduling. Future research ought to strive to keep
the number of researchers present consistent. It’s also advised that participating researchers are

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the same across all experimental sessions. There’s no need to introduce a potential confound via
the very researchers investigating it, as the effect of color is already rather difficult to measure. A
small set of reliable and dependable researchers with a clear schedule would be an excellent way
to prevent any inconsistencies. Our research isn’t free from situational threats to validity. In
conducting the experiment and gathering data, we attended many different classrooms. Some
were larger than others, some had a tiered layout, desks were often arranged differently, lighting
was different between classrooms. This may have lead to different results because our research
investigated perceptual aspects of performance by manipulating visual stimuli. Future research
ought make an attempt to standardize the environment wherein the research is to be conducted,
so that it may avoid this threat to validity. Future research should consider expanding to
additional demographics, as the primary demographics from our samples were White and
Hispanic college students from a rural community college in the southwest, which makes our
research susceptible to selection bias and more difficult to generalize. An excellent way to solve
this issue would be to replicate this experiment with more diverse participant demographics.
Diverse locations for replicating this research is the only way to to resolve this without limiting
discovered effects to specific demographics.
We are guided and shaped by the perceptions of the world around us. Color has a small
effect on these perceptions and our consequential choices. According to what we have observed
in our research, anxiety plays a role in this process as well. While under duress, as in the testing
environment, the color red can tip the balance out of favor for the anxious and lead to less
accurate measurements of academic performance. Colored quizzes, while supposedly effective at
curbing cheating, can also cheat anxious folks out of better grades. Academia is often in search
of standardized measures so it may reliably measure performance. Different colored paper for

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quizzes and tests is the opposite of standardization. Different campuses and professors apply this
anti cheating technique using their own methods, which can lead to many different conditions in
the testing environment. It would be in the best interests of academic institutions and students
alike to standardize the color of quizzes and tests. The fear of students cheating is not a
justifiable reason to cheat students out of a grade that best reflects their efforts, especially when
considering students affected by this would be anxious to begin with.

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References
Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2007). Color and Psychological Functioning. Current
Directions In Psychological Science, 16(5), 250-254. doi:10.1111/j.1467-
8721.2007.00514.x
Martinez, J., Oberle, C., & Thompson, J. (2010). Effects of Color on Memory Encoding and
Retrieval in the Classroom. American Journal of Psychological Research,
6(1), 24-31.
Sinclair, R. C., Soldat, A. S., & Mark, M. M. (1998). Affective Cues and Processing
Strategy: Color-Coded Examination Forms Influence Performance. Teaching Of
Psychology, 25(2), 130-132. doi:10.1207/s15328023top2502_14
Skinner, N. F. (2004). Differential Test Performance From Differently Colored Paper:
White Paper Works Best. Teaching of Psychology, 31(2), 111-113.
Smajic, A., Merritt, S., Banister, C., & Blinebry, A. (2014). The Red Effect, Anxiety, and
Exam Performance: A Multi-study examination. Teaching Of Psychology, 41(1), 37-43.
doi:10.1177/0098628313514176
Tal, I. R., Akers, K. G., & Hodge, G. K. (2008). Effect of Paper Color and Question
Order on Exam Performance. Teaching Of Psychology, 35(1), 26-28.
doi:10.1080/00986280701818482

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Appendix A: Math Test

16. EFFECT OF PAPER COLOR ON ARITHMETIC PERFORMANCE 16
Appendix B: Questionnaire