Limited evidence for the effect of red color on cognitive performance: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Red color supposedly affects cognitive functioning in achievement situations and impairs test performance. Although this has been shown for different cognitive domains in different populations and cultural contexts, recent studies including close replications failed to corroborate this effect. Reported here is a random-effects meta-analysis of 67 effect sizes (38 samples) that compared test performance after viewing red or a control color. For anagram tests and knowledge tests no significant difference between color conditions was found (Cohen’s d of -0.06 and -0.04); for reasoning tests the pooled effect of d = -0.34, 95% CI [-0.61, -0.06] indicated significantly lower scores in the red condition. The cumulative meta-analysis revealed substantially larger effects in initial studies as compared to subsequent research. After correcting for publication bias no evidential value for an effect of red color on intellectual performance was available. The review casts doubt on the existence of a robust color-priming effect in achievement situations.

Is there selective retroactive memory enhancement in humans?: a meta-analysis

“…However, small-study effects, the tendency for smaller samples to be associated with larger effect sizes, can cause overestimations of effect sizes and lead to false positives—even in meta-analyses (Egger et al, 1997 ; Nuijten et al, 2015 ; Stanley, 2017 ). Thus, it is important to control for such effects when conducting meta-analyses (Bartoš et al, 2022 ; Gnambs, 2020 ; Maier et al, 2023 ). When considering the influence of small-study effects in the subsequent robust Bayesian meta-analyses, evidence for the null hypothesis was found.…”

“…Small-study effects occur whenever experiments with small sample sizes show large effect sizes. Such small-study effects can inflate effect sizes, which can lead to false-positive results (see Gnambs, 2020 )—also in meta-analyses (Nuijten et al, 2015 ). Moreover, since small-studies yielding null effects are even less likely to published, this problem is further exacerbated (Egger et al, 1997 ; Stanley, 2017 ; Stanley & Doucouliagos, 2014 ).…”

“…Moreover, since small-studies yielding null effects are even less likely to published, this problem is further exacerbated (Egger et al, 1997 ; Stanley, 2017 ; Stanley & Doucouliagos, 2014 ). Thus, considering small-study effects is vital to make appropriate inferences from meta-analyses (see Gnambs, 2020 ). Robust Bayesian meta-analysis incorporates both selection models as well as the precision-effect test and precision-effect estimate with standard errors (PET-PEESE) method (Bartoš et al, 2022 ; Stanley, 2017 ; Stanley & Doucouliagos, 2014 ).…”

Colour as a Metacognition Enhancing Strategy in Scientific Translators’ Education

“…Among these, red, blue and green are perceived more actively. Particularly, red stimuli have been shown to receive an attentional advantage, but some authors claim that they undermine intellectual performance and increase caution and avoidance (Elliot, 2015) because they are associated with negative affectivity (Gnambs, 2020). In contrast, blue shades increase mental alertness and performance on attention-based tasks (Elliot, 2015) because they encourage thinking and reflection (Sattarzadeh & Boroujeni, 2021).…”

psymetadata: An R Package Containing Open Datasets from Meta-Analyses in Psychology

“…These original works are cited in the references and are listed in the documentation of the psymetadata package. Further, an applied exampled using one of the datasets (Gnambs, 2020) was included in Williams et al (2021).…”