Color-sharing Bonus Project 1, Groningen/Idaho, 2013 (ICPSR 35640)

Version Date: Jan 27, 2015

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Principal Investigator(s):
Candice Morey, University of Edinburgh

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR35640.v1

Version V1

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Summary

Color repetitions in a visual scene boost memory for its elements, a phenomenon known as the color-sharing effect. This may occur because improved perceptual organization reduces information load or because the repetitions capture attention. The implications of these explanations differ drastically for both the theoretical meaning of this effect and its potential value for applications in design of visual materials. If repetitions capture attention to the exclusion of other details, then use of repetition in visual displays should be confined to emphasized details, but if repetitions reduce the load of the display, designers can assume that the non-repeated information is also more likely to be attended and remembered. We manipulated the availability of general attention during a visual memory task by comparing groups of participants engaged in meaningless speech or attention-demanding continuous arithmetic. We also tracked eye movements as an implicit indicator of selective attention. Estimated memory capacity was always higher when color duplicates were tested, and under full attention conditions this bonus spilled over to the unique colors too. Analyses of gazes showed that with full attention, participants tended to glance earlier at duplicate colors during stimulus presentation but looked more at unique colors during the retention interval. This pattern of results suggests that the color-sharing bonus reflects efficient perceptual organization of the display based on the presence of repetitions, and possibly strategic attention allocation when attention is available.

Citation

Morey, Candice. Color-sharing Bonus Project 1, Groningen/Idaho, 2013. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2015-01-27. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR35640.v1

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Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Restrictions

This dataset is part of ICPSR's Archives of Scientific Psychology journal database. Users should contact the Editorial Office at the American Psychological Association for information on requesting data access.

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2013-02 -- 2013-06

Date of Collection

2013-02 -- 2013-06
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Sample

We advertised the possibility to participate to students who needed to complete experimental credits for courses and to the general local population for a small honorarium. We scheduled willing participants to available timeslots on a first-come, first-served basis.

Time Method

Cross-sectional

Universe

Humans with typical visual sensory and intellectual abilities.

Unit(s) of Observation

Individual

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Presence of Common Scales

Visual change detection, a same/change recognition memory task

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Original Release Date

2015-01-27

Version History

2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was:
  • Morey, Candice. Color-sharing Bonus Project 1, Groningen/Idaho, 2013. ICPSR35640-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2015-01-27. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR35640.v1
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Notes

  • This dataset is part of ICPSR's Archives of Scientific Psychology journal database. Users should contact the Editorial Office at the American Psychological Association for information on requesting data access.

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

  • One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.

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Archives of Scientific Psychology

This dataset is made available in connection to an article in Archives of Scientific Psychology, the first open-access, open-methods journal of the American Psychological Association (APA). Archiving and dissemination of this research is part of APA's commitment to collaborative data sharing.