Student Resources How Color Affects Reading Comprehension An Experiment Idea for Students By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book." Learn about our editorial process Updated on November 01, 2023 Fact checked Verywell Mind content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. We rely on the most current and reputable sources, which are cited in the text and listed at the bottom of each article. Content is fact checked after it has been edited and before publication. Learn more. by Emily Swaim Fact checked by Emily Swaim Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell. Learn about our editorial process Print Steven Errico/DIgital Vision/Getty Images Table of Contents View All Table of Contents Research Questions What the Research Suggests Develop a Hypothesis Plan Your Experiment Collect Data and Report Results Trending Videos Close this video player Does color affect reading comprehension? Some say that using colored paper or text rather than plain white paper or black font can improve learning and performance. For example, could printing text on green paper help students read better, while another is yellow paper helps students perform better on math exams? How accurate are these claims? If you're looking for a fun experiment idea for students, this could be a fun and easy experiment. Here's how to design a psychology experiment around this theory. At a Glance Does the color of the paper or the color of the text really have an impact on how much a student learns or how well they perform on an exam? These questions form a great basis for a psychology experiment that you can perform yourself. If you are looking for a psychology experiment idea for a high school or college course, consider testing whether the color of paper and/or the color of the text impacts test results or memory. Research Questions to Consider When preparing an experiment about color and learning, you may choose one of these questions to study in your experiment: Does using colored paper increase scores on a math test?Does using a different colored font increase scores on a math test?Does using colored paper increase reading comprehension?Does using a different colored font increase reading comprehension?Does printing text on green paper increase reading comprehension over other colors of paper, such as yellow, blue or brown?What color text works best for reading comprehension?What color text works best for math scores?Does using colored paper boost memory? What the Research Suggests It can be helpful to look at what current research says about whether color affects reading comprehension. Results have presented contradictory findings. Some studies have found that colored reading overlays had no impact on reading rate or accuracy in people with reading disabilities and without. However, other studies have found that such overlays can help improve reading rate and accuracy. Some research has suggested that visual overlays can help minimize visual stress and fatigue. This might be particularly helpful for those with specific vision problems, dyslexia, and other reading difficulties. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has stated that there is insufficient evidence to recommend using colored overlays to improve reading comprehension. Other research has suggested that the use of color can help induce wholeness, parts-whole organization, and phenomenal fragmentation when reading and comprehending written material. Developing Your Hypothesis After you have chosen a research question, your next step is to develop a hypothesis. Your hypothesis should be an educated guess about what you think will happen in the experiment. For example, a possible hypothesis might be one of the following: Students who take a math test printed on colored paper will perform better than students who take the same math test printed on white paper.Students who read text printed on colored paper will perform better on a reading comprehension test than students who read the same text printed on white paper. Planning Your Experiment on Color and Reading Comprehension In the next step of your experiment on color and reading comprehension, you must select participants, create the materials you'll use in the study, and identify the key variables of interest. Choose Participants When choosing participants for your study, talk to your instructor. In some cases, you might be able to experiment with other students in your psychology or science course. Remember, it is essential to get permission from your teacher before proceeding to work with any group of participants. Develop Study Materials After you have selected a group of participants, create the materials that you will use in your experiment. For this psychology experiment, your materials might include a math test printed on different colors of paper, reading selections printed on different colors of paper and/or with different colored fonts, and reading comprehension tests. Identify Your Key Variables Next, determine the key variables of your experiment. These variables may differ depending on the exact hypothesis you decided to investigate. For example, if you are researching whether or not colored paper increases reading comprehension, your independent variable would be the color of the paper and the dependent variable would be the scores on the reading comprehension test. Collect and Analyze Data and Report on the Results After you have collected the data for your experiment, analyze the results. Did the color of the paper used have any effect on your dependent variable? Were the results of the experiment statistically significant? Write up your results in the manner required by your instructors, such as a bulletin board presentation or a lab report. Ideas for Psychology Experiments 4 Sources Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Uccula A, Enna M, Mulatti C. Colors, colored overlays, and reading skills. Front Psychol. 2014;5. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00833 Denton TF, Meindl JN. The effect of colored overlays on reading fluency in individuals with dyslexia. Behav Anal Pract. 2015;9(3):191-198. doi:10.1007/s40617-015-0079-7 American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Ophthalmology, Council on Children with Disabilities, American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, American Association of Certified Orthoptists. Learning disabilities, dyslexia, and vision. Pediatrics. 2009;124(2):837-844. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-1445 Pinna B, Deiana K. On the role of color in reading and comprehension tasks in dyslexic children and adults. i-Perception. 2018;9(3):204166951877909. doi:10.1177/2041669518779098 Additional Reading Fordham DR, Hayes DC. Worth repeating: paper color may have an effect on student performance. Issues in Accounting Education. 2009;24(2):187-194. doi:10.2308/iace.2009.24.2.187 By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book." See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Helpful Report an Error Other Submit