Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Reading Speed
Francois Corpel - Nathan Frazier
Macomb Mathematics Science Technology Center
Honors Physics
11B
Mr. McMillan - Mrs. Cybulski
May 29, 2017
Analysis of the Effects of Different Text and Page Color Combinations on Human
Reading Speed
The goal of this research is to determine the effect of different color combinations
on the reaction time (reading speed) of the human subjects. People have to read almost
every second of the day to be productive and this may help to find a way to increase
reading speed which could prove to be beneficial to society. This research can help
Finding the effect of the color combination on the reading speed was tested by
having subjects read an article for all 10 color combinations for 20 seconds each. Then
the mean reading speeds were compared to each other using an ANOVA statistical test
to find if a particular color combination allowed for a faster reading speed than the other
color combinations.
Table 1
1 234.47 5
2 233.36 7
3 239.87 2
4 227.99 9
5 233.77 6
6 221.84 10
7 236.94 3
8 244.79 1
9 231.81 8
10 236.51 4
Table 1, above, shows the different mean reading speeds of both male and
female test subjects by color scheme (see Appendix A) along with their rank among
each other. According to an ANOVA test result, there was no significant difference in the
Introduction.............................................................................................................1
Review of Literature................................................................................................4
Problem Statement...............................................................................................10
Experimental Design.............................................................................................11
Conclusion............................................................................................................28
Acknowledgements...............................................................................................31
Appendix D: Articles..............................................................................................44
Works Cited.............................................................................................................4
Corpel - Frazier1
Introduction
can see (Madigan). With these millions of different colors, there are trillions of
two-color combinations. That means there are over 10 times more two-colored
The human brain, as well as the brains of many other animals, can
comprehend colors because of two different types of cells: rods and cones
(“Seeing Color”). Rods are used to see black and white as well as different
shadings of colors, while cones (green, blue, and red) are used for seeing
can see.
at or read than others. Is black text on white paper the easiest one for the human
presentation while still retaining (or maybe even improving) a productive reading
speed?
colors that could be processed faster than the standard black on white. To do
this, different articles were printed with different color combinations and given to
test subjects. The subjects were then timed as they read these articles aloud.
After this, the reading speed was calculated by determining the number of words
Corpel - Frazier2
read in the allotted time and converting this value into words per minute. Finally,
worldwide as these results will provide insight on which color schemes produce
quick reaction times, and in turn, allow readers to read and interpret the
In the following experiment, the reaction that was being looked at was
reading speed in words per minute (wpm). Trials only lasted to last 20 seconds
each.
S=3∗w
The equation shown above, in figure 1, was used to calculate the reading
speed (S) by multiplying the words read in the time allotted by the subject (w) by
higher reading speed is a result of more words being read in the allotted time,
which implies a superior reaction time than that of a lower reading speed.
or student given a short period of time to present their ideas. In each case, the
presentation needs to be fast, yet informative, allowing the audience to retain the
knowledge. These results could also help advertisers by allowing them to choose
a color scheme that gives the company its own flair, while still giving their
problems and try to find the optimal color combination for heightened reading
speed.
Corpel - Frazier4
Review of Literature
The eyes are a pair of complex globular organs that allow humans, as well
called the visible light spectrum. The experiment conducted tests the process of
how fast human eyes and brains process different wavelengths of light (different
colors).
The eye is so complex because of the many different parts and all of their
functions. Two key receptors to seeing different colors are rods and cones. Rods
are activated in settings with lower light and help distinguish between lighter and
darker colors, but cannot clearly differentiate colors, while cones need more light
to be activated and can be one of three colors: red, green, and blue (“Seeing
Color”). The human eye contains nearly 6 million cones and uses different
combinations of them to help humans see color and identify different shades
(“Seeing Color”).
(Cornell)
Rods and cones are both attached to optic nerves, as shown in Figure 2,
that transmit information to the visual cortex, which translates the differing signals
from the rods and cones into pictures that humans see (Lin and Tsai). These
nerves can be measured for conductive velocity, or the speed in which electrical
impulses travel through the nerve (“Nerve Conduction Studies”). This can be
tested by placing two electrodes on the nerve; one “stimulates the nerve with a
very mild electrical impulse and the other electrode records it” (Lin and Tsai). The
nerves attached to red and green cones have slower conduction velocities while
blue cones have average conduction velocities (Lin and Tsai). This may indicate
that blue can be seen and interpreted quicker than red and green. This research
focuses on the ability of one’s cones to isolate one color from another quickly. In
radiation from small gamma rays at 10^-12 meters in wavelength to radio waves
Corpel - Frazier6
(Madigan). The smaller the wavelength, the more powerful it is because it in turn
has a higher frequency. The human eye is only able to see the aptly named
section of the spectrum, visible light. This region is super small compared to the
rest of the spectrum and ranges in wavelength from 400nm (violet) to 700nm
(red) (Madigan). The visible light section contains the seven main colors of the
rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) as well as millions of
Corpel - Frazier7
varying shades in between. While this region only makes up 0.0035% of the
whole electromagnetic field, the human eyes can still detect various shadings
(“Seeing Color”)
As shown in Figure 5, all the colors in the visible light spectrum can be
created when the differing wavelengths activate a combination of any or all of the
different colored cones and rods. When all of the cones are stimulated in equal
proportions, the color white is interpreted by the brain (“Seeing Color”). In Figure
5, there is little overlap between the blue cones and the red cones, which might
suggest that a combination of the two would produce the smallest amount of
reaction time (Balakrishnan et al.). This test was performed with different colored
when the light activated. All other factors were held constant. When the results
were calculated, it was determined statistically that the yellow light produced a
significantly slower reaction time than green and red. This result was consistent
of Rohtak Medical College in India sought to test the differences in male and
female reaction times with differing visual and auditory stimuli (Misra et al.). The
test intended to measure the reaction times it takes a subject to move a certain
body part (in this experiment they tested more than just genders but also
handedness, visual and auditory responses, and different limbs). To test this, the
tested). Once the data was collected, a two-sample t-test was done to compare
the reaction times of males and females. The results showed that males had
faster reflexes than females in all twelve different tests and in five of those tests,
the results were statistically significant. This research is significant to the one
variable: gender.
This experiment shares some aspects with the two previously mentioned
studies. However, this experiment seeks to focus on reading speed and how it is
affected by different color schemes. In pursuit of this, the research relies on these
Corpel - Frazier9
two studies and their results before performing any trials or calculating any
results.
This experiment is an effort to try and explain the complexity of the human
eye with its interaction with different color combinations. This part of the paper
broke up the different components of the eye and analyzed previous research
that may have an effect on the reading speed of humans. The two key
components to this experiment are the functions of rods and cones and the
visible light spectrum. The rods and cones in the human eye are what allow
humans to see and the cones specifically allow humans to see colors. Colors are
electromagnetic waves that are between 400 nm and 700 nm and the different
Problem Statement
Problem Statement:
Hypothesis:
speeds, and the pink paper with the blue text will produce the fastest reading
speed.
Data Measured:
color combination the pages the article is printed on. The response (dependent)
variable to be measured is the speed (words per minute / wpm) that the article is
read at. To find this, each test subject will read aloud for twenty seconds. Then, a
researcher will count the number of words read and multiply by three to calculate
Experimental Design
Materials:
Procedure:
1. Randomize the paper/ink color combination for each article and print (see
Appendix A)
2. Randomize the order of the articles the test subject reads (See Appendix
A)
3. Randomize the order of the subjects using the Ti-Nspire calculator (See
Appendix B)
4. Have the subject read the first article out loud (skip the title) to the
observers while being timed for 20 seconds
5. Record the word stopped on (if word is not finished, still count the word)
6. Record the number of words read and calculate reading speed in words
per minute. Note: If any words are skipped, subtract this from the
total
number of words before calculating
7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 for the remaining 9 articles on the same test
subject
Corpel - Frazier12
timing the subject and monitoring the subject to count errors. Researcher 2 is
preparing the next set of articles for the next subject during this time.
Corpel - Frazier13
Table 2
Male Reading Speed
Color Scheme and Reading Speed (in wpm)
Subject / trial
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 180 237 192 234 192 213 219 243 192 138
2 198 222 219 186 243 243 180 261 249 198
3 216 231 237 273 225 204 213 180 243 204
4 198 204 177 228 234 222 201 249 213 192
5 312 345 279 309 270 327 297 312 282 258
6 198 183 216 204 243 207 204 240 228 231
7 177 243 249 294 216 234 246 216 249 255
9 264 192 255 279 243 204 324 267 252 303
10 243 270 195 195 255 237 234 240 231 213
11 276 204 249 228 219 216 237 246 198 270
12 192 189 204 174 213 180 240 204 231 165
13 300 303 273 261 258 219 213 309 279 309
14 228 237 219 237 189 207 198 267 213 249
15 210 168 249 186 204 138 222 156 198 228
16 189 204 219 195 195 183 234 168 231 198
17 237 222 207 240 261 186 213 216 267 237
18 240 192 264 213 219 246 273 261 207 261
19 180 165 216 198 153 204 225 195 177 222
20 180 141 165 183 147 141 111 198 180 210
21 234 249 189 246 228 222 267 237 216 255
22 273 294 258 216 258 228 312 309 240 330
23 363 351 339 327 372 270 330 261 294 285
24 126 156 168 159 156 177 207 162 165 171
Corpel - Frazier14
25 240 276 303 219 246 261 303 315 249 258
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
26 168 180 156 117 171 174 171 156 201 219
27 240 246 234 246 246 213 231 279 276 225
28 198 225 234 213 240 249 225 240 171 192
29 243 183 228 210 207 225 264 219 285 255
30 300 282 300 210 279 240 150 303 336 231
Table 2, above, shows the reading speed of the thirty male test subjects in words per
minute. The speed was calculated by counting the words from the start of the article up to and
including the final word spoken and then multiplying by three (as the initial testing lasted for only
Table 3
Female Reading Speed
Color Scheme and Reading Speed (in wpm)
Subject / trial
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 249 216 180 213 234 186 231 252 243 228
2 213 273 249 249 228 279 264 288 258 252
3 255 246 222 276 234 219 234 303 204 249
4 261 291 336 240 297 246 276 312 246 297
5 237 219 264 255 270 219 213 228 213 234
6 237 222 276 249 234 240 234 288 270 246
7 273 252 210 216 243 228 216 180 228 234
8 237 201 279 222 219 225 237 240 252 198
9 168 207 135 153 198 201 192 225 159 216
11 294 249 288 264 291 246 309 270 231 282
12 204 159 204 183 180 222 192 183 126 207
Corpel - Frazier15
13 309 324 375 339 324 279 369 294 351 300
14 234 249 240 240 282 261 261 321 234 291
15 186 186 234 261 195 243 195 189 255 240
16 231 222 246 216 195 201 204 246 183 177
17 204 237 204 174 159 207 216 156 186 210
18 210 231 237 243 249 174 198 231 207 237
19 255 231 204 237 291 180 252 231 246 207
20 252 255 204 195 219 201 204 189 195 204
21 327 321 291 261 306 324 264 329 300 354
22 267 159 258 234 255 216 267 204 213 246
23 252 288 288 240 225 231 216 201 234 264
24 246 231 225 222 129 267 264 231 204 267
25 234 192 204 210 171 195 195 150 198 201
26 228 213 153 216 240 192 249 204 255 210
27 228 228 261 291 216 204 246 258 237 249
28 207 231 216 216 255 252 246 153 210 222
29 231 264 246 216 231 210 183 294 249 219
30 276 192 288 192 207 276 231 246 246 234
Table 3, above, shows the reading speed of the thirty female test subjects in words per
minute. The speed was once again calculated by counting the words from the start of the article
up to and including the final word spoken and then multiplying by three (as the initial testing
Table 4
Average Reading Speeds for Male, Female, and Combined
Color Scheme and Reading Speed (in wpm)
Gender
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Male 224.2 223.9 226.8 221.4 224 213.5 229.7 233.1 229.8 229.8
Female 239.5 231.9 239.5 229.2 229 226 234.6 236.2 227.1 238.1
Combined 231.9 227.9 233.2 225.3 226.5 219.8 232.2 234.6 228.5 234.0
Table 4, above, shows the average reading speeds in words per minute of each color
scheme based on gender. The highest in males was color scheme 8 (pink paper/blue text) at
233.1 wpm. The highest in females was color scheme 3 (yellow paper/green text) at 239.5 wpm.
The highest in the combined group was again color scheme 8 at 234.6 wpm.
Table 5
Observations
Color Scheme (stutters/missed words) Additional
Observations
& Subject
Subject Gender
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 5 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 1 0 3 2 Male
2 1 2 0 0 3 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 Female
3 3 0 2 0 4 0 4 0 3 0 4 0 2 0 4 0 3 0 3 0 Male
4 1 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 2 0 1 1 Male
5 2 1 4 0 4 0 2 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 0 Male
6 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Female
7 2 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 Female
8 2 0 2 0 2 2 3 1 2 0 1 1 2 0 2 0 2 1 2 0 Male
9 1 0 4 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 Male
10 3 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 Male
Corpel - Frazier17
11 1 0 3 0 4 0 6 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 2 0 2 1 2 0 Male
12 3 0 1 3 0 1 4 0 2 1 2 0 2 0 3 0 3 1 2 1 Female
13 2 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 Female
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
14 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 0 Female
15 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 3 0 Female
16 1 0 3 1 3 1 3 0 2 0 3 0 2 1 4 1 1 0 1 0 Male
17 2 0 3 0 4 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 4 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 Male
18 2 0 5 0 4 0 4 0 1 0 5 0 3 1 2 0 4 1 0 0 Male
19 3 0 5 1 5 1 2 1 2 0 5 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 1 Male
20 3 0 2 1 4 0 1 1 2 0 3 0 3 0 3 1 2 1 1 1 Male; phone
interrupted trial
21 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 Female
22 4 0 2 0 2 0 4 0 5 0 4 0 2 1 1 0 3 0 3 1 Male
23 3 1 3 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 2 1 2 0 3 0 Female
24 2 0 4 2 1 1 0 0 2 0 4 0 3 2 2 1 1 0 1 0 Male
25 5 1 3 0 1 0 4 0 4 0 6 0 2 1 5 1 3 1 2 0 Male
26 2 1 0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Male
27 4 0 3 0 2 0 4 0 4 1 3 0 4 0 3 0 3 0 2 1 Female
28 3 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 3 0 4 0 1 0 2 0 Female
29 0 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 Female
30 2 0 4 1 2 1 3 0 4 0 1 0 2 3 2 0 3 0 2 0 Male
31 2 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 2 1 1 0 2 0 4 3 3 0 Male
32 1 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 4 0 3 0 4 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 Male
33 1 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 4 1 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 1 2 0 Female
34 5 0 2 0 2 0 4 0 5 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 3 1 Female
Corpel - Frazier18
35 3 0 4 2 4 0 3 1 2 2 2 0 3 1 3 0 2 0 4 0 Male
36 1 2 2 0 2 1 2 1 2 0 0 1 2 0 2 0 2 2 1 0 Female
37 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 Female
38 2 2 4 0 4 0 7 1 2 0 4 0 3 0 4 0 4 0 1 0 Male
39 3 0 4 0 4 0 4 1 3 0 3 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 4 1 Male
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
40 3 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 2 0 3 0 1 0 3 0 1 0 3 0 Female
41 3 0 3 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 Male
42 2 0 4 1 0 0 2 0 5 0 3 0 3 0 2 0 3 0 2 0 Male
43 1 1 4 1 2 0 6 0 2 1 2 0 2 0 6 0 2 0 1 0 Male
44 3 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 Female
45 4 0 3 0 3 0 2 1 2 0 6 3 6 1 1 1 3 0 2 2 Female
46 5 0 2 2 6 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 2 1 3 0 Female
47 5 2 4 0 3 0 3 0 1 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 1 0 5 0 Female
48 4 0 4 0 6 0 0 0 3 0 5 0 4 0 3 1 2 0 4 0 Male
49 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 Male; issues
operating timer
50 1 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Female
51 1 1 4 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 2 Male
52 2 1 2 0 4 0 2 0 4 0 3 0 4 0 1 0 1 1 6 1 Male
53 6 0 3 0 3 0 4 0 3 0 4 0 3 0 4 0 4 0 2 0 Female
54 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 3 1 0 2 Female
55 1 0 1 2 4 0 2 1 2 1 1 0 3 0 4 0 2 1 3 3 Female
56 2 0 2 0 3 0 3 0 2 1 4 0 3 0 4 1 0 0 1 0 Female
57 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 Female
58 3 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 Female
Corpel - Frazier19
59 2 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 Female
60 2 2 3 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 Female
Table 5, above, shows the observations made during each trial. Each color scheme has
two columns underneath it. The left column represents the number of stutters that each subject
made while reading. The right column represents the number of missed words by each subject
which were taken away when making the word per minute reading speed calculations.
When making these calculations, it was determined that one of the articles (not the color
scheme) consistently had significantly slower reading speeds. This article, article 4, contained
Spanish words that may have slowed readers as they tried to pronounce and comprehend these
words. When the data was analyzed, this article was removed in some of the tests to see if
results. The first layer was randomizing the order in which the color schemes
were read. Next, each particular article was randomized to go with a color
scheme. The randomization for each of these was done using Microsoft Excel
(Appendix A). The last layer of randomization was randomizing the order of the
subjects. This was done by using the random integer function on the Ti-Nspire
(Appendix B).
The black ink on white paper was used as a control for comparison with
the other color variations, as this is the most commonly used color combination.
because, as stated by the Central Limit Theorem, the more trials conducted, the
Figure 7, above, shows a box plot of the different groups of means found.
The black lines and numbers indicate the median values, and the red lines and
numbers indicate the mean values. These boxes included the male means with
and without article 4, female means with and without that article, and the
combined means with and without the article (the blue, orange, yellow, pink,
green, and red plots, respectively). Visually, the omission of article 4 seemed to
have a positive impact on the reading speed, as in each of the three groups,
about 50% of the means without the article were higher than 75% of the means
with the article. The combined box plots also seem to be quite variable, with data
points ranging from about 215 to about 250 wpm. This could be an indication of
Corpel - Frazier22
the means being significantly different from each other, but in order to determine
Color
Median Mean
Scheme
1 238.28 239.56
2 234.00 237.22
3 249.40 249.81
4 225.21 228.43
5 241.04 242.08
6 226.50 228.89
7 235.11 236.22
8 246.58 246.58
9 232.50 230.59
10 234.00 237.62
Figure 8. Female Data Boxplots
a table with the corresponding medians and means. All of the means and
Color
Scheme Median Mean
1 229.39 229.39
2 229.50 229.50
3 229.93 229.93
4 227.56 227.56
5 225.46 225.46
6 214.80 214.80
7 234.00 237.67
8 243.00 243.00
9 232.02 233.04
10 233.20 235.39
Figure 9. Male Data Boxplots
table with the corresponding medians and means. All of the means and medians
Color
Median Mean
Scheme
1 235.50 234.47
Corpel - Frazier24
2 231.00 233.36
3 238.50 239.87
4 227.56 227.99
5 234.00 233.77
6 219.00 221.84
7 234.00 236.94
8 246.00 244.79
9 232.02 231.81
10 234.00 236.51
Figure 10. Combined Data Boxplots
Figure 10, above, shows a boxplot of the male reading speeds as well as
a table with the corresponding medians and means. All of the means and
conclusion.
analyze the data results. This particular test is appropriate because there were
There are 3 assumptions that must be covered for the results for the
ANOVA tests to be reliable. The first one is that there are 10 independent simple
random samples, one for each population. This is true because each color
scheme is independent from the other and the order of them was randomized
(Appendix A). The second assumption is that each population has a normal
distribution. This is met because each population had a sample size of 60 trials
(30 male and 30 female) which, because it is greater than 30, meets the
requirements of the Central Limit Theorem. The last assumption is that the
standard deviation of all the populations is close enough to being equal (the
Corpel - Frazier25
deviation). This assumption was met after checking the data. With all of the
In figure 11 above, the null and alternative hypotheses are stated. The null
hypothesis states that all the populations’ means are equal to each other,
meaning, that there is no effect on the reading speed based on color scheme.
The alternative hypothesis states that not all of the means are equal, and
When these tests were completed, the results were found as shown in
Figure 12, above, shows the results of each of the ANOVA tests. All of the
p-values (0.94, 0.92, 0.78, 0.44, 0.40, and 0.19) are above the α-level of 0.05.
This means that none of the results are statistically significant in favor of the
between the reading speeds of the different color schemes. If the null hypothesis
were true, that is to say if the reading speeds were truly the same, results as
Corpel - Frazier27
extreme as these would occur by chance alone 19% of the time if testing
combined male and female scores without the article, 40% of the time if testing
female scores without the article, 44% of the time if testing male scores without
the article, 78% of the time if testing combined male and female scores with the
article, 92% of the time if testing female scores with the article, and 94% of the
Despite these results, it can be judged that, while not significantly, the
effect during trials on reading speed. This is most noticeable with the “best” and
“worst” color schemes, the pink paper/blue text and blue paper/green text
schemes respectively. Many of the subjects read the former very well as was
shown by the highest mean reading speed, while struggling to read the latter,
Conclusion
This experiment was performed with the intent to determine if there was a
noticeable difference in reading speed when articles are printed using different
color schemes. The original hypothesis stated that there would be a significant
difference between all color schemes, and that the pink paper with the blue text
the null hypothesis, which stated that all of the color schemes would produce the
After conducting the one-way ANOVA test, the overall reading speeds
were not found to be significantly different with a p-value of 0.1925. This shows
that there is about a 19.25% chance of getting sample means this similar by
chance alone if the overall reading speed was truly the same for all the color
schemes.
While these values were true for the combined group of males and
females, it was noted that there were some differences between the results for
Table 6
ANOVA Results for Different Groups
Table 6, above, shows the results of all of the statistical tests that were
used. The ANOVA tests were used to determine if there was a statistically
significant difference between all of the color schemes. None of the tests rejected
the null hypothesis. An interesting trend that occurred was the fact that the p-
values tended to be smaller when analyzing the combined data rather than an
individual group. This may be due to the increased sample size by combining the
was observed by looking at the data and observing during trials that specific color
most notably the pink paper/blue text combination producing higher reading
speeds and the blue paper/green text combination producing lower reading
speeds.
Somnogenic Light: Pick Your Color.” In that study, it was found that blue light
made the test subjects more alert than the green light. This aligned with the fact
that the pink paper with blue text produced the fastest reading speed. The
Corpel - Frazier30
difference between the two experimental designs is that Bourgin and Hubbard’s
work tested different colored lights, while this research analyzed colored ink.
Nevertheless, in both experiments, the blue stimulus proved best with the test
subjects.
One such factor was that the amount of distractions within the testing location
were not held constant throughout the trials. During certain trials, the testing
environment was disturbed by loud noises outside and inside the room. Other
trials, however, were performed with no distractions for the readers. A more
secure, undisturbed testing location may have a positive impact on the test
variety of color schemes could be tested. This experiment only found which of
ten color schemes produced quick reading speeds, but as stated in the
possible. This would likely give a more accurately determined optimal color
scheme for reading. Secondly, the different color combinations could be analyzed
for effects on cognitive abilities. For example, after reading articles, test subjects
could be quizzed on the content of the readings. This might provide insight into
not only which color schemes are read fastest, but also the ones that are
Acknowledgements
The researchers would like to thank Mr. Greg McMillan and Mrs. Rosemarie
Cybulski for providing guidance throughout the experimental process, including the
scientific and statistical principles that were the foundation of this paper. They would also
like to thank Mrs. Cybulski for providing the testing location throughout the trial period.
Finally, the researchers would like to thank the entire afternoon class of 2020 at
the Macomb Mathematics Science Technology Center, as well as some of the afternoon
class of 2018 at MMSTC for their participation in the trials. Without their full participation,
Table 7
Randomizing Color Schemes and Articles
Rand Number Rank
0.3042095262 7
0.07372092253 10
0.3642085233 6
0.4064232802 4
0.1097180382 9
0.2621822952 8
0.891967992 2
0.8933219662 1
0.3927736955 5
0.4993695052 3
In table 7 above, there are two columns: the left column generates a
random number between 0 and 1, and the right column ranks those numbers
from highest to lowest. Then the latter column, with ten random, non-repeating
numbers from one to ten, is copied and pasted into a trial table (Table 8).
Corpel - Frazier33
Table 8
Trial Table
Table 8 is where the list of numbers created in table 7 go. They are placed
starting all the way to the left, then continually filled until the whole table is filled.
The first number for each subject is a number that correlates to a specific color
scheme where the second number corresponds with an article. When giving the
trials for the specific subject number, start with the first combination listed, then
move down until all 10 schemes and articles have been used.
Table 9
Experiment Setup Key
Number Color Scheme Article Title
1 Yellow Page, Red Text The Wooly Mammoth
6 Blue Page, Green Text Water From the Air: Cloud Forests
7 Pink Page, Red Text Digitized Signals Are the Future of the Black Box
Table 9 above, shows the key used when randomizing. It shows what
color scheme and article is correlated with each number. This is used when
Figure 13 above, shows how the numbers were generated for randomizing
the order of the subjects. The random integer function was used to produce an
integer one through twenty five. This number then correlated with a specific
class.
Corpel - Frazier36
Table 10
Random Order of Trials
Trial #
Order
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 3 10 3 4 9 6 4 1 9 3 1 10 9 10 8 8 2 4 10 1
2 1 5 7 6 8 1 9 2 10 9 4 6 3 4 1 1 6 5 3 6
3 7 2 4 7 10 4 10 3 4 8 7 5 2 7 4 2 10 6 6 3
4 10 4 5 8 2 10 2 6 7 10 6 1 10 8 9 3 3 7 5 10
5 8 1 10 5 7 5 8 4 2 5 2 9 7 1 5 4 1 3 4 2
6 6 9 8 2 3 7 6 10 6 6 10 4 1 9 6 6 9 1 9 5
7 5 3 6 3 1 3 3 8 3 4 9 8 6 3 7 5 7 10 1 4
8 9 7 9 1 5 8 1 5 8 2 5 7 5 5 2 9 8 2 8 7
9 2 6 2 10 6 2 7 7 1 7 3 3 4 6 10 7 5 8 2 8
10 4 8 1 9 4 9 5 9 5 1 8 2 8 2 3 10 4 9 7 9
Trial #
Order
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
1 7 9 1 3 3 2 9 8 6 1 10 2 9 6 5 3 5 5 6 3
2 9 2 5 8 1 6 7 5 8 4 5 7 6 1 8 8 4 10 7 4
3 1 6 2 5 8 8 10 1 7 7 4 8 5 9 7 2 9 6 1 8
4 10 3 8 2 9 10 1 4 5 6 1 6 3 5 9 4 2 7 2 9
5 4 8 10 6 2 7 8 2 4 10 2 4 8 10 6 5 7 8 9 6
6 3 7 3 9 5 9 5 3 1 9 6 10 4 4 1 9 8 9 8 1
7 6 5 4 4 6 3 6 7 10 2 9 3 1 2 2 10 1 1 4 7
8 8 4 9 7 7 4 2 10 3 3 7 9 7 7 10 6 10 4 10 2
9 5 10 7 1 10 1 4 6 2 8 8 1 10 3 3 1 6 3 5 10
10 2 1 6 10 4 5 3 9 9 5 3 5 2 8 4 7 3 2 3 5
Trial #
Corpel - Frazier37
Order 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
1 10 10 8 2 8 9 6 4 8 4 10 6 9 8 3 9 4 6 9 3
2 2 4 9 5 1 7 1 9 3 2 7 7 1 2 5 6 5 5 10 8
3 7 6 3 7 6 6 3 2 10 10 2 5 3 10 4 3 9 4 5 7
4 4 1 4 8 7 10 8 7 9 8 1 1 5 4 1 2 2 10 6 6
5 1 9 6 10 4 8 7 8 6 3 5 2 8 9 2 7 8 3 4 10
6 3 8 2 6 3 4 2 5 7 9 4 9 10 3 6 4 7 7 1 5
7 9 2 5 4 9 5 10 1 2 6 8 10 6 5 7 1 1 9 7 9
8 6 7 7 3 5 3 5 6 1 7 3 3 4 7 10 5 6 8 3 2
9 5 3 1 1 2 1 4 10 4 5 6 4 7 6 8 8 10 2 8 1
10 8 5 10 9 10 2 9 3 5 1 9 8 2 1 9 10 3 1 2 4
Trial #
Order
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
1 1 5 7 4 5 9 7 6 8 6 10 8 6 7 8 1 8 3 4 3
2 6 1 10 8 9 8 3 10 9 5 8 4 7 5 9 5 6 4 9 5
3 2 7 8 2 7 1 1 7 7 8 5 5 2 9 1 3 7 6 10 8
4 4 6 2 7 4 2 2 2 2 9 3 9 3 1 5 10 1 9 2 9
5 8 10 9 1 8 4 8 8 6 10 7 7 1 6 10 9 2 2 8 10
6 3 9 4 6 2 5 4 4 1 7 1 3 8 8 4 7 10 7 7 6
7 7 2 1 9 10 3 10 1 4 1 2 10 10 10 7 2 3 5 5 4
8 5 4 6 10 6 7 5 9 5 3 6 6 9 3 2 8 5 8 1 1
9 9 3 3 5 3 6 6 3 3 4 4 2 5 4 6 4 9 10 6 2
10 10 8 5 3 1 10 9 5 10 2 9 1 4 2 3 6 4 1 3 7
Trial #
Corpel - Frazier38
Order 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
1 7 2 8 9 7 1 10 9 5 2 9 5 5 8 6 4 3 3 8 3
2 8 10 7 8 4 4 3 1 7 1 2 3 9 10 7 6 9 4 2 4
3 9 9 5 4 8 8 1 10 4 5 4 9 6 2 10 5 6 1 10 6
4 10 6 1 10 5 6 7 7 2 8 1 4 7 4 2 10 4 7 1 2
5 1 4 6 6 1 7 9 3 1 9 3 8 3 7 9 9 8 8 4 7
6 4 7 3 2 2 3 8 5 9 6 10 1 8 9 5 3 1 10 9 10
7 3 5 10 5 3 10 2 6 3 10 5 6 1 1 8 2 5 2 3 8
8 2 8 9 7 6 5 4 8 6 4 8 10 10 6 3 1 2 6 5 9
9 6 1 4 3 9 9 6 4 8 7 6 7 2 5 1 7 7 5 7 1
10 5 3 2 1 10 2 5 2 10 3 7 2 4 3 4 8 10 9 6 5
Trial #
Order
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
1 6 6 4 3 4 7 8 6 1 2 6 10 5 5 10 10 3 8 8 1
2 1 8 6 10 10 8 5 4 5 10 2 3 6 10 9 3 8 1 7 10
3 10 1 1 2 2 2 2 10 3 9 4 6 9 6 1 7 10 7 5 5
4 3 5 8 1 8 4 1 8 6 1 10 5 1 4 3 5 9 2 10 7
5 8 7 9 9 5 5 10 9 9 6 9 9 10 1 2 6 7 4 9 6
6 9 2 10 7 7 10 6 1 4 8 5 2 2 7 4 1 2 9 4 3
7 4 3 7 4 3 3 7 2 8 4 1 8 7 9 5 9 6 3 1 9
8 5 10 2 5 6 6 9 7 2 7 7 1 8 8 7 8 1 6 2 4
9 7 9 3 8 1 9 3 3 10 3 3 4 4 3 6 2 5 5 6 2
10 2 4 5 6 9 1 4 5 7 5 8 7 3 2 8 4 4 10 3 8
Appendix A). Table 10, above, shows this randomized order (see Appendix A for key).
Corpel - Frazier39
Table 11
Values with Article 4
Color Scheme ni x́ i si
1 60 231.85 45.84
2 60 227.9 48.91
3 60 233.15 49.78
4 60 225.3 42.42
5 60 226.5 48.97
6 60 219.75 38.73
7 60 232.15 46.16
8 60 234.63 52.82
9 60 228.45 42.76
10 60 233.95 43.07
Table 11, above, shows the number of trials, mean response variable, and
standard deviation of each color scheme using the data points with article 4
Table 12
Values without Article 4
Color Scheme ni x́ i si
1 60 234.47 43.00
2 60 233.36 46.25
3 60 239.87 45.20
4 60 227.99 39.30
5 60 233.77 40.62
6 60 221.84 35.36
Corpel - Frazier40
Color Scheme ni x́ i si
7 60 236.94 40.94
8 60 244.79 42.35
9 60 231.81 39.60
10 60 236.51 40.08
Table 12, above, shows the number of trials, mean response variable, and
standard deviation of each color scheme using the data points without article 4
being included.
60∗231.85+60∗227.9+…+ 60∗233.95
¿
600
= 229.363
Figure 14, above, shows the calculations made to find the sample mean of
all of the populations in the ANOVA test. This is the number of observations in
each sample times the mean of each sample, like weighted means, and is used
n1 ( x́ 1− x́ )2+ n2 ( x́2 − x́)2 +...+n10 ( x́ 10− x́)2 60∗( 231.85−229.363 )2 +60∗( 227.90−229.363 )2 +…+
MSG= =
I −1 9
Corpel - Frazier41
= 1314.43
Figure 15, above, shows the calculations made to find MSG. MSG is the
mean square group or the variation among sample means between each
population. It is found by dividing the sum of each population size times each
sample mean’s deviation from xbar squared by one less than the number of
groups. This is used to find the F statistic along with the following calculation.
59∗45.84 2 +59∗48.912+...+59∗43.072
¿
599
= 2095.36
Figure 16, above, shows the calculations made to find MSE. MSE is the
mean square error or the variation among individuals in all samples of each
population. It is found by dividing the sum of one less than each population size
times the each population’s standard deviation squared by one less than the
MSG 1314.43
F= =
MSE 2095.36
= 0.6273
Corpel - Frazier42
Figure 17, above, shows the calculations made to find the F-statistic. The
F - statistic is the ratio of the variation among sample means between each
population and the variation among individuals in all samples of each population.
The F statistic is rightly skewed but when the numerator and denominator values
grow, the curve become closer to normal. This value is used in finding the p-
value.
I −1 10−1 9
df = = =
N −I 600−10 590
Figure 18, above, shows the calculations made to find the degrees of
freedom in an ANOVA test. The degrees of freedom are the number of values
that are allowed to be variant. With an ANOVA test, there are two different values
for the degrees of freedom. The numerator value is found by taking the number
of populations and subtracting one (which gives the degrees of freedom between
each group). The denominator value is found by taking the total number of data
points and subtracting the number of populations (which gives the degrees of
freedom within each group). It is extremely important to note that this is not a
fraction that can be simplified. Both the numerator and denominator must remain
as calculated.
Once the F-statistic and degrees of freedom are found, the p-value can be
these numbers into a program to compute the value. Both of these returned, in
Appendix D: Articles
Figure 19, above, shows the different color schemes used in this
experiment. Aside from the standard black text on white paper, color scheme 10,
the respective color schemes from 1-9 are as follows: yellow paper/red text,
yellow paper/blue text, yellow paper/green text, blue paper/red text, blue
paper/blue text, blue paper/green text, pink paper/red text, pink paper/blue text,
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