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. 2021 Feb 7;11(2):24. doi: 10.3390/bs11020024

Aroused and Impulsive Effects of Colour Stimuli on Lateral and Logical Abilities

Guobin Xia 1,*, Muzi Li 2, Philip Henry 1, Stephen Westland 1, Francisco Queiroz 1, Qiwei Peng 3, Luwen Yu 1
PMCID: PMC7916084  PMID: 33562365

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of environmental colour on people’s lateral and logical abilities. This was done by evaluating study participants’ response time and error rate when completing six types of psychometric tests that were performed in various hue backgrounds on a computer. To maximise the colour stimulation provided by the monitor, the experiment was carried out in a dark laboratory. Analysis of participants’ response time and error rate showed that different colours could significantly influence arousal and impulsiveness, which suggests that colour has indirect impacts on cognitive abilities. Further analysis revealed that different colours had various effects depending on the type of psychometric test given. These findings suggest that future research on environmental design should consider how to effectively use colour to impact people’s performance and behaviour.

Keywords: colour psychology, arousal, impulsiveness, cognitive abilities

1. Introduction

The study evaluated the influence of colour stimuli on people’s cognitive abilities with particular focus on logical and lateral abilities. The human brain divides into two distinct cerebral hemispheres, and each of them tends to lateralise and specialise in different cognitive abilities [1,2,3]. Notably, the right hemisphere is responsible for lateral abilities (i.e., creative thinking, imagination, holistic perception and emotional thought), while the left hemisphere is in charge of logical abilities (i.e., analytical thought, detail-oriented perception, ordered sequencing, rational thought, and math/science) [4,5,6,7]. Colour and light as a ubiquitous perceptual stimulus have been manifested in the previous studies in optimistically affecting people’s cognitive functions [8], human perceptions [9], psychological and emotional reactions and ultimately [10,11], behavioural intentions [12]. However, research investigating the influence of colour stimuli on people’s lateral and logical abilities is limited. Questions that this study deems significant and attempts to answer are (1) whether colours could influence people’s cognitive abilities, and (2) how?

There is a rich history of studies that relates to how environmental colours can affect people’s behaviours and performance. For instance, Elliot, et al. [13] investigated the connection between colour and human psychological reactions with particular focus on red and performance attainment. Results of their work found a clear link between colours and emotions through various observed behavioural (i.e., task choice) and psychophysiological (i.e., cortical activation) reactions. The study by Elliot, et al. [13] was impressive in its contribution to illustrate that colour can act as a subtle environmental cue that has essential impacts on people’s behaviours. Yildirim, et al. [14] studied the effects of three different colours (cream, blue, and pink) on the interior wall surfaces of classrooms on the perceived performance of male students. They observed that students felt more positive in spaces with blue walls compared to cream and pink coloured spaces. It is suggested that the effective use of colours in the design of classrooms do have significant impacts on students’ perceptual performances. Interestingly, some studies carried out explored the intensity lighting impacts have on people’s electroencephalogram (EEG) power [15,16]. Results have demonstrated the stimulus of short and long wavelength light on people’s alpha, theta, and beta power, suggesting that coloured light can promote acute alertness and improve performance on tasks requiring sustained attention.

The impacts of colour inducements on cognitive performance can also be observed in textile design. Significant contributions have been made by Hill and Barton [17], Ilie, et al. [18] and Attrill, et al. [19] in several experiments demonstrating that red relative to blue clothes have significantly higher opportunities to win in competition or matches. Apart from findings regarding red effects, other researchers additionally reported judokas that wear blue might carry a better performance compared with those wearing white [20,21].

Other studies indicate that people’s emotions and performance can be induced by specific colours [11,22,23,24,25,26], and this indication parallels on the relationship between the impacts of colour on people’s arousal and impulsiveness (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Figure 1

The relationship between the impacts of colour on people’s arousal and impulsive level and cognitive performance.

Arousal refers to the physiological and psychological state of being awake. It is relatively crucial in regulating the psychological experience of attention, alertness, information processing (decision-making or judgments), emotions, memory and consciousness [27,28,29], that dimension ranges from deactivation (i.e., calm) to activation (i.e., stress or happiness) [30]. One crucial theory that attempts to explain the empirical relationship between emotional arousal and performance is the U-shaped relationship, initially established by Yerkes and Dodson, and was known as Yerkes–Dodson Law [31]. Specifically, Yerkes–Dodson Law states that raised levels of arousal can enhance performance up to a certain point; however, if beyond the optimum, increased level of arousal is followed by declines in performance [32]. For example, an optimal level of stress before an exam can increase people’s attention on the test and retain the knowledge that you have studied. In contrast, excessive test anxiety can weaken people’s ability to focus and make it more challenging to remember precise answers. Drawing on investigations of the core design elements of colour and light, generally, researchers posited that arousal difference effects could be observed and that the red end of the spectrum increased arousal and the blue reduced arousal [33,34]. Specifically, Greene, et al. [35] explored the connections among hue, arousal and boredom. In their study, a total of 140 undergraduate students (70 males, 70 females) were invited to sit in carrels and exposed to side panels painted either light blue, blue, pink, red, orange, white, brown, green, yellow, or grey. The experiment evaluates students’ aroused level by exploiting Russell and Mehrabian [32] Emotional Response Scale (ERS), Griffitt [36] Personal Feelings Scale (PFS), and Russell and Pratt [37] Affective Quality of Place Scale (AQPS). Their findings show that self-reported arousal and evaluations of the environment were higher with the yellow stimulus than in the other coloured stimulations. Collectively, the work carried out by Greene and colleagues illustrated the potential of colour stimulus as an aroused effect trigger even employing the coloured inducement in less immersive conditions.

Nevertheless, the experiment by Greene and colleagues has some problems. Firstly, they failed to manage the brightness of the colour stimulus when studying the hue influence. Moreover, when participants look at the painted side panels, they must not view a single colour, but a combination of the colour with a background colour, even though one consciously attempts to recognize only one of them. Furthermore, the results of the subjective measure are questionable, as people may mix their feelings before and after each experiment session. However, despite various methods applied in order to measure colour influence on arousal, previous insights into measuring approaches can be generally classified into three types: self-reporting methods (i.e., verbal scales), psychophysical methods (i.e., paper-folding, cognitive tasks), and psychophysiological methods (i.e., GSR, EEG, heart rate) [38,39,40,41].

Impulsiveness is defined as a behavioural ability to respond quickly and without mental reflection, which is essentially associated with the control of thoughts and behaviour [41]. It is well documented in the literature that colour can influence human perceptions and behaviours [17,21]. However, research into the measure of colour on impulsivity is relatively limited but can be generally categorized into four categories: self-report measure, behavioural measure, psychophysiological measure, everyday life experiences measure. For instance, Zentall, et al. [42] used colour stimulation with psychophysical methods to test the impulsivity of attention-problem adolescents. They compared participants’ performance through the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) between “black and white” and “colourful” patterns. Their results showed that participants were less impulsive with colourful patterns in terms of the reduced error rate of MFFT. Wang, et al. [43] conducted two psychophysical experiments to investigate the effects of environmental colour on impulsive buying behaviour. Their results revealed that environmental colour (blue vs. red) could stimulate people’s impulsive buying behaviour. To be specific, they also observed that participants who were exposed to the blue environment had higher impulsive buying intent than those exposed to the red environment. Sevda, et al. [44] explored the relationship between colour preferences and impulsive behaviour by using Beck Anxiety (BAI), Beck Depression (BDI) and Barrat Impulsivity Scales (BIS). They found colour preference is related to impulsivity. Ciccone [45] used personality, behavioural and neurological methods to study the effect of coloured environments on impulsivity in his PhD thesis, and his results conflicted with conventional opinion that long wavelength (i.e., red light) lights are encouraging and short wavelength lights (i.e., blue light) are calming. A study by Duan, Rhodes and Cheung [26] used a behavioural measure method to examine hue and found that it can have distinct impacts on impulsiveness and arousal, in which the hue seemed to have a greater impact on arousal than impulsiveness. To be specific, their findings revealed that orange and purple can influence people to exhibit a high-aroused state, while yellow leads to the least aroused state. Interestingly, in Duan, Rhodes and Cheung [26], a theoretical framework developed from the Salkind and Wright [46] integrated model was proposed to illuminate both impulsiveness and arousal based on the error-speed theory, which also can be utilized to explain the colour influence on people’s cognitive abilities in this study.

Collectively, many studies have demonstrated that colour can affect performance and behaviours but how do the effects occur on the lateral and logical abilities? Studies reviewed above help to inform the hypothesis that colour can have aroused and impulsive effects on people’s lateral and logical abilities. For a better understanding, and proliferating the potential of colour, the originality of this work builds on previous insights but goes further to develop new knowledge regarding the effective use of the colour design in triggering people’s logical and lateral functions. Psychological experiments have been carried out to study the impacts of colour on people’s aroused and impulsive level to validate the hypothesis, which is an indirect approach to validate the colour impacts on people’s lateral and logical abilities.

2. Methods

2.1. Colour Conditions

The six colour patches and an equally luminous reference white colour (used as a control) were selected from an Adobe HSB colour system based on previous research by Eysenck [47], Yu, et al. [48], Singh [49], Yu, et al. [50], and Duan, Rhodes and Cheung [26]. These colours were used as the background colour for a series of questions and adjusted to have a similar lightness and chroma based on the CIELAB values displayed on the monitor measured by the X-rite i1 Pro in dark laboratory settings (see Table A1 in Appendix A).

2.2. Psychometric Tests

Six types of psychometric test were utilised for measuring the participants’ logical ability (logic rule test, mathematics sequence test), lateral ability (spatial structure test, rotation test) and detail ability (odd one out, same detail test) (see Table A2). For each type of test, there were seven questions and each of these seven questions was assigned a different coloured background. This led to there being 42 questions in total (6 types of test x 7 coloured backgrounds) and each participant was asked to answer all 42 questions. The colours of the backgrounds and the orders of presentation of the questions were randomised (for each participant). However, within each test, each participant was presented with a question with each of the seven coloured backgrounds. Note, however, that for different participants the coloured backgrounds assigned to the questions within a test were different. The purpose of this is to ensure that if one of the questions, for example, was slightly more difficult than another then it would be equally likely to have any of the backgrounds for a particular participant and would remove bias.

Response time and error rate were the two main data gathered from the experiment. In the Results section, these measurements will be used to estimate participants’ aroused and impulsive levels which will be used as an indirect approach to understanding how colour impacts on people’s lateral and logical abilities.

2.3. Participants

A total of 21 participants (aged 20–25 years old, 10 males and 11 females) were recruited for the psychological experiment. To avoid culture effects and the possibility that some participants might be more logical in their approach, all participants were Chinese undergraduate students from the School of Media with similar academic backgrounds (animation studies).

2.4. Experimental Procedure

The experiment was carried out in a dark room with each participant on their own. All participants were required to complete the Ishihara Colour Vision Test before entering the room to ensure that they had normal colour vision. After passing the test, they were asked to read the instructions concerning the entire experimental procedure. Next, a sample test including each type of psychometric test was introduced to familiarise participants with the tests before launching the formal experiment. Participants were asked to focus on the reference white background picture for five minutes to adapt to the experimental lighting conditions. The main experiment started five minutes after they had adapted to the experimental conditions. Each participant spent about 40 min to complete the main experiment. Individual participants were seated in front of a monitor and were asked to choose the right answer for each question as quickly and as accurately as possible by using a mouse (see Figure 2a,b). The monitor used in the experiment had an aspect ratio of 16:9.

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Examples of the experimental setup: (a) Individual participant using the mouse with the green background condition; (b) An example of each of the 7 coloured backgrounds used. Source: Authors.

3. Results

3.1. General Trend

Statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS, Armonk, NU, USA) software. Figure 3a,b shows the mean scores for response time and error rate pooled over all six types of test in completing psychological tasks. The green background gave both the fastest response and lowest error rate. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to show the statistical significance of colour backgrounding, participants’ impulsiveness and arousal can be defined as High Arousal (HA), faster reactions and lower error rate; Low Arousal (LA), slower reactions and higher error rate; High Impulsiveness (HI), shorter response time and higher error rate; and Low Impulsiveness (LI) longer response time and lower error rate (all compared with the mean).

Figure 3.

Figure 3

Figure 3

(a) General trend of response time by background colours; (b) General trend of error rate by background colours; (c) Colour impacts on general performance visualised in the Error-Speed space. The bars represent mean changes, while the error bars are the standard error of the mean across individual participants.

As for the response time (Figure 3a), participants performed faster with the reference white than the purple background (p = 0.032). In addition, their response time with the red (p = 0.008) and orange (p = 0.017) was shown to perform faster than the purple background. Furthermore, participants performed significantly faster with the green background than the purple (p = 0.001), and yellow (p = 0.017) backgrounds.

With regard to the error rate (Figure 3b), participants with the green background were shown to make significantly fewer errors compared with participants with the purple (p = 0.000), orange (p = 0.000), blue (p = 0.000) and also the reference white (p = 0.000) backgrounds. Meanwhile, participants with the yellow background made lower errors than the reference white (p = 0.012), red (p = 0.002), blue (p = 0.002), orange (p = 0.001), and purple (p = 0.000) backgrounds (Table A3, Table A4 and Table A5).

Figure 3c visualises colour impacts on general performance in the Error-Speed space. Looking at error rate and response time together, participants were slower to respond, and their error rate was relatively higher with the purple and blue backgrounds, while participants reacted faster, and their error rate was significantly lower with the green background. These findings suggested that participants experienced a LA state when they completed questions with the purple and blue backgrounds and a HA state with the green background. Moreover, for the orange and red backgrounds, participants reacted significantly faster than with the purple, and they made slightly fewer errors than with the purple background. This suggested that participants experienced a HI state with the red and orange backgrounds. Regarding the yellow background, participants were shown to respond slower and made fewer errors, suggesting that participants experienced a LI state here.

3.2. Logical Abilities

Participants’ logical abilities were validated by a logical rule test and mathematics sequence test. Generally, participants responded slowly with the purple background, but faster with the green. However, no statistical significance was observed in their response time with respect to colour influence on logical abilities (Figure 4a). Interestingly, we found participants’ logical abilities were significantly affected by colours with respect to their error rate (Figure 4b). Specifically, participants were shown to make significantly more errors with the orange background compared with the yellow (p = 0.002) and green (p = 0.000) backgrounds. Moreover, compared with the purple background, the participants’ error rate was significantly lower with the green (p = 0.000) and yellow (p = 0.002) backgrounds. Compared with the yellow, the participants’ error rate was shown to be higher than with the blue (p = 0.042) and reference white (p = 0.024) backgrounds. Furthermore, we observed that participants made fewer errors with the green (p = 0.003) compared with the red background (p = 0.024) and the reference white condition (p = 0.007) (Table A6, Table A7 and Table A8).

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Figure 4

(a) Response time of participants’ performance in logical abilities by background colours; (b) Error rate of participants’ performance in logical abilities by background colours; (c) Colour impacts on logical abilities visualised in the Error-Speed space. The bars represent mean changes, while the error bars are the standard error of the mean across individual participants.

Together with both the error rate and response time (Figure 4c), our results suggested that participants’ logical abilities can be significantly influenced by green and red with an increasing aroused state and low aroused state with purple and orange. Meanwhile, blue and yellow were demonstrated to have low impulsive effects on participants’ logical abilities.

3.3. Lateral Abilities

Results of the participants’ performance in relation to spatial imagination ability tests were shown to be significantly affected by colours with respect to their response time and error rate. Specifically, in terms of their response time (Figure 5a), participants reacted slower with the purple background compared with the red (p = 0.018) and green (p = 0.01) backgrounds. In addition, a significant difference was also observed between the orange and purple (p = 0.006) backgrounds. With regard to the error rate (Figure 5b), participants made fewer errors with the green background compared with the orange (p = 0.000), red (p = 0.001), purple (p = 0.001), blue (p = 0.000), and reference white condition (p = 0.000). Moreover, participants with the yellow background were shown to make fewer errors in lateral ability tests than those with the orange (p = 0.022), red (p = 0.040), and blue (p = 0.022) (Table A6, Table A7 and Table A8). Results of both error rate and response time (Figure 5c) of the spatial imagination ability tests suggested that participants experienced a HI state with orange, red, and blue backgrounds. Meanwhile, those with the green background were shown to be in a HA state, and the yellow background rarely induced a LI state.

Figure 5.

Figure 5

Figure 5

(a) Response time of participants’ performance in spatial imagination abilities by background colours; (b) Error rate of participants’ performance in spatial imagination abilities by background colours; (c) Colour impacts on spatial imagination abilities visualised in the Error-Speed space. The bars represent mean changes, while the error bars are the standard error of the mean across individual participants.

3.4. Detail Abilities

Colour influence on detail abilities was validated through an odd one test and same detail test. Statistical significances were found in participants error rate. As shown in Figure 6a, participants reacted slower with the purple background than the green. However, no significant difference between these two colours on response time was found. Moreover, Figure 6b indicates that participants with the purple background made more errors than the green (p = 0.003) and yellow (p = 0.041) backgrounds. Meanwhile, participants made fewer errors with the green backgrounds than the blue (p = 0.041) and red (p = 0.031) backgrounds. Together with response time and error rate (Figure 6c), we found purple, red, and blue have LA effects on detail abilities. In addition, participants experienced a HA state with the green background, and rarely LI with the yellow background. Orange is located on the border between the LI and LA quadrants, while it is not the colour having no effects on detail abilities.

Figure 6.

Figure 6

Figure 6

(a) Response time of participants’ performance in detail abilities by background colours; (b) Error rate of participants’ performance in detail abilities by background colours; (c) Colour impacts on detail imagination abilities visualised in the Error-Speed space. The bars represent mean changes, while the error bars are the standard error of the mean across individual participants.

4. Discussion

This study explores the design potential of colour stimuli on cognitive abilities with a particular focus on people’s logical and lateral functions. Results from psychological experiments showed that colours can significantly influence people’s arousal and impulsiveness, suggesting that colour has indirect impacts on cognitive abilities. Specifically, findings concerning the colour impacts on general, logical, and spatial imagination, and detail abilities can be summarised as follows:

4.1. General Trend

  • Purple leads to the lowest aroused state. It induced participants to make the most errors and had the longest reaction time.

  • Green leads to the greatest aroused state. It induced participants to make the fewest errors and had the shortest reaction time.

  • Yellow leads to the least impulsive state. Participants with yellow made the second most errors, while they reacted faster compared with green.

  • Red and yellow are colours that influence people to be more impulsive.

  • Blue seems to have a low aroused influence on participants’ performance. Participants with blue made more errors compared with orange, yellow, and green. Meanwhile, participants responded slower with blue compared with green.

4.2. Logical Abilities

  • Colour seems to have no significant impact on participants’ reaction time on their logical performance.

  • Yellow leads to the least impulsive state on participants’ logical performance.

  • Yellow and green induced participants to make fewer errors in the logical ability test, suggesting green and yellow may have a positive impact on people’s logical abilities.

  • Green and red are colours that influence people towards more arousal in logical performance.

  • Red seems to have relatively high aroused effects on participants’ logical abilities.

  • Purple and orange are colours that influence people towards low arousal in logical performance.

  • Blue rarely has low impulsive impacts on logical abilities. It induced participants to make more errors in logical tests compared with yellow and green.

4.3. Spatial Imagination Abilities

  • Green leads to the highest aroused state on spatial imagination abilities, suggesting green can positively stimulate people’s left cerebral hemisphere functions (lateral functions).

  • Orange leads to the greatest impulsivity on lateral functions.

  • Orange, red and blue seem to influence participants’ lateral functions with a high impulsivity state.

  • Purple induced participants to make the most errors and had the longest reaction time in lateral ability tests.

  • Red seems to have high impulsivity on participants’ lateral abilities, while it has relatively high aroused effects on participants’ logical abilities. Specifically, participants seem to make fewer errors in logical ability tests than lateral ability tests.

  • Yellow has a low impulsive influence on participants’ lateral abilities.

4.4. Detail Abilities

  • Purple leads to the lowest aroused state on participants’ detail abilities, suggesting purple has a relatively negative influence on people’s logical and lateral abilities.

  • Green leads to the highest aroused influence on participants’ spatial imagination abilities. This also suggests that the colour green can positively influence people’s logical and lateral abilities.

  • Purple, red, and blue are colours that have low aroused effects on detail abilities.

  • Yellow and orange seem to have a relatively low impulsivity state on participants’ detail abilities. Specifically, participants made fewer errors with the orange background compared with the purple.

Above all, many studies have observed our findings and agreed that reddish colours (i.e., red, orange) can influence people with a high impulsivity state [11,33,43,44]. Moreover, we found green seems to have high aroused effects, which is consistent with Ciccone [45] whose results conflict with the conventional opinion that long wavelength (i.e., red light) lights are encouraging and short wavelength lights (i.e., blue light) are calming. In addition, our findings show that blue and yellow induced participants to make more errors, in agreement with Duan, Rhodes and Cheung [26]. However, our findings indicate that green seems to have high aroused effects and purple leads to the lowest aroused state, differing from Duan, Rhodes and Cheung [26] who found purple located in the high aroused quadrant and green seeming to have low aroused effects. A possible explanation for this could be that all participants involved in this study were animators (people good at lateral thinking), and this suggests that colours might have different impacts on lateral and logical thinkers. In that case, the participant selection criteria, although designed to ensure consistency, could be considered a study limitation.

5. Conclusions

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of environmental colour on people’s logical and lateral abilities. This research used a psychological method to validate the impacts of colour on people’s response time and error rate in completing six types of psychometric tests (varied in hue backgrounds). Through the experiments, we found people’s logical and lateral functions can be significantly influenced by colours. Deliverable potentials of this work would add value to ongoing environmental design research, suggesting that researchers and designers should consider using colour to prompt people’s lateral and logical abilities. These experiments also retain certain limitations. First, due to the practical difficulties in conducting the study (each participant spent about 40 min), we included 21 participants, which is a relatively small number but nevertheless sufficient to show some significant results. Second, all participants were aged from 20 to 25, and thus the findings might not be generalisable to children and the elderly. Further experiments will be performed in the future to expand our findings.

Acknowledgments

We appreciate all the participants at the Harbin Normal University who took part in the experiment.

Appendix A

Table A1.

The Characteristics of the Background Colours.

Colours L * C * h a * b * R G B
Visual Reference White 70.01 0.51 28.34 0.24 0.19 171.27 170.01 169.86
Red 69.42 69.08 34.33 23.95 35.01 244.31 121.54 103.56
Yellow 70.52 69.13 99.63 −25.59 55.21 187.82 175.99 19.87
Blue 69.77 65.86 286.26 33.33 −36.64 110.09 158.86 255.00
Green 67.89 67.26 177.63 −54.76 −3.48 62.76 193.52 156.59
Orange 68.29 67.66 67.84 −0.57 56.18 242.31 154.31 55.88
Purple 68.01 68.17 320.95 48.07 −22.74 221.76 129.76 243.86

Table A2.

Functions of Six Types of Psychometric Tests Used in the Experiments.

Cerebral Hemisphere Cognitive Functions Tests
Right cerebral hemisphere Logical function Logical abilities:
Logical rule test
Mathematics sequence
Left cerebral hemisphere Lateral function Spatial imagination abilities:
Spatial structure test
Rotation test
Right cerebral hemisphere: holistic perception;
Left Right cerebral hemisphere: detail oriented perception
Logical & Lateral functions Detail abilities:
Odd one out
Same detail test

Table A3.

MANOVO Analysis of People’s Responses to Colours—General Effects.

Descriptive Statistics
Coloured_Backgrounds Mean Std. Deviation N
Response_time Reference white 42.1864 45.30772 126
Red 38.7156 37.01419 126
Yellow 51.4849 84.10959 126
Blue 45.9029 49.64691 126
Green 34.8059 30.16076 126
Orange 40.4606 45.95477 126
Purple 57.1974 73.77608 126
Total 44.3934 55.60318 882
Error_rate Reference white 0.4206 0.49563 126
Red 0.4524 0.49971 126
Yellow 0.2698 0.44565 126
Blue 0.4603 0.50041 126
Green 0.1746 0.38114 126
Orange 0.4683 0.50098 126
Purple 0.4921 0.50193 126
Total 0.3912 0.48829 882

Table A4.

Multivariate Tests of People’s Responses to Colours—General Effects.

Multivariate Tests a
Effect Value F Hypothesis df Error df Sig. Partial Eta Squared Noncent. Parameter Observed Power d
Intercept Pillai’s Trace 0.556 547.626 b 2 874 0 0.556 1095.252 1
Wilks’ Lambda 0.444 547.626 b 2 874 0 0.556 1095.252 1
Hotelling’s Trace 1.253 547.626 b 2 874 0 0.556 1095.252 1
Roy’s Largest Root 1.253 547.626 b 2 874 0 0.556 1095.252 1
Coloured_backgrounds Pillai’s Trace 0.068 5.128 12 1750 0 0.034 61.537 1
Wilks’ Lambda 0.933 5.153 b 12 1748 0 0.034 61.833 1
Hotelling’s Trace 0.071 5.177 12 1746 0 0.034 62.128 1
Roy’s Largest Root 0.056 8.226 c 6 875 0 0.053 49.356 1

a Design: Intercept + Coloured_backgrounds. b Exact statistic. c The statistic is an upper bound on F that yields a lower bound on the significance level. d Computed using alpha = 0.05.

Table A5.

Multiple Comparisons of People’s Responses to Colours—General Effects.

Multiple Comparisons
LSD
Dependent Variable (I) Coloured_Backgrounds (J) Coloured_Backgrounds Mean Difference (I–J) Std. Error Sig. 95% Confidence Interval
Lower Bound Upper Bound
Response_time Reference white Red 3.4708 6.97038 0.619 −10.2098 17.1514
Yellow −9.2984 6.97038 0.183 −22.9791 4.3822
Blue −3.7165 6.97038 0.594 −17.3971 9.9641
Green 7.3806 6.97038 0.29 −6.3001 21.0612
Orange 1.7258 6.97038 0.805 −11.9548 15.4064
Purple −15.0110 * 6.97038 0.032 −28.6916 −1.3304
Red Reference white −3.4708 6.97038 0.619 −17.1514 10.2098
Yellow −12.7693 6.97038 0.067 −26.4499 0.9113
Blue −7.1874 6.97038 0.303 −20.868 6.4933
Green 3.9097 6.97038 0.575 −9.7709 17.5903
Orange −1.745 6.97038 0.802 −15.4256 11.9356
Purple −18.4818 * 6.97038 0.008 −32.1624 −4.8012
Yellow Reference white 9.2984 6.97038 0.183 −4.3822 22.9791
Red 12.7693 6.97038 0.067 −0.9113 26.4499
Blue 5.5819 6.97038 0.423 −8.0987 19.2625
Green 16.6790 * 6.97038 0.017 2.9984 30.3596
Orange 11.0242 6.97038 0.114 −2.6564 24.7048
Purple −5.7125 6.97038 0.413 −19.3931 7.9681
Blue Reference white 3.7165 6.97038 0.594 −9.9641 17.3971
Red 7.1874 6.97038 0.303 −6.4933 20.868
Yellow −5.5819 6.97038 0.423 −19.2625 8.0987
Green 11.0971 6.97038 0.112 −2.5835 24.7777
Orange 5.4423 6.97038 0.435 −8.2383 19.1229
Purple −11.2944 6.97038 0.106 −24.9751 2.3862
Green Reference white −7.3806 6.97038 0.29 −21.0612 6.3001
Red −3.9097 6.97038 0.575 −17.5903 9.7709
Yellow −16.6790 * 6.97038 0.017 −30.3596 −2.9984
Blue −11.0971 6.97038 0.112 −24.7777 2.5835
Orange −5.6548 6.97038 0.417 −19.3354 8.0258
Purple −22.3915 * 6.97038 0.001 −36.0721 −8.7109
Orange Reference white −1.7258 6.97038 0.805 −15.4064 11.9548
Red 1.745 6.97038 0.802 −11.9356 15.4256
Yellow −11.0242 6.97038 0.114 −24.7048 2.6564
Blue −5.4423 6.97038 0.435 −19.1229 8.2383
Green 5.6548 6.97038 0.417 −8.0258 19.3354
Purple −16.7368 * 6.97038 0.017 −30.4174 −3.0561
Purple Reference white 15.0110 * 6.97038 0.032 1.3304 28.6916
Red 18.4818 * 6.97038 0.008 4.8012 32.1624
Yellow 5.7125 6.97038 0.413 −7.9681 19.3931
Blue 11.2944 6.97038 0.106 −2.3862 24.9751
Green 22.3915 * 6.97038 0.001 8.7109 36.0721
Orange 16.7368 * 6.97038 0.017 3.0561 30.4174
Error_rate Reference white Red −0.0317 0.06009 0.597 −0.1497 0.0862
Yellow 0.1508 * 0.06009 0.012 0.0328 0.2687
Blue −0.0397 0.06009 0.509 −0.1576 0.0783
Green 0.2460 * 0.06009 0 0.1281 0.364
Orange −0.0476 0.06009 0.428 −0.1656 0.0703
Purple −0.0714 0.06009 0.235 −0.1894 0.0465
Red Reference white 0.0317 0.06009 0.597 −0.0862 0.1497
Yellow 0.1825 * 0.06009 0.002 0.0646 0.3005
Blue −0.0079 0.06009 0.895 −0.1259 0.11
Green 0.2778 * 0.06009 0 0.1598 0.3957
Orange −0.0159 0.06009 0.792 −0.1338 0.1021
Purple −0.0397 0.06009 0.509 −0.1576 0.0783
Yellow Reference white −0.1508 * 0.06009 0.012 −0.2687 −0.0328
Red −0.1825 * 0.06009 0.002 −0.3005 −0.0646
Blue −0.1905 * 0.06009 0.002 −0.3084 −0.0725
Green 0.0952 0.06009 0.113 −0.0227 0.2132
Orange −0.1984 * 0.06009 0.001 −0.3164 −0.0805
Purple −0.2222 * 0.06009 0 −0.3402 −0.1043
Blue Reference white 0.0397 0.06009 0.509 −0.0783 0.1576
Red 0.0079 0.06009 0.895 −0.11 0.1259
Yellow 0.1905 * 0.06009 0.002 0.0725 0.3084
Green 0.2857 * 0.06009 0 0.1678 0.4037
Orange −0.0079 0.06009 0.895 −0.1259 0.11
Purple −0.0317 0.06009 0.597 −0.1497 0.0862
Green Reference white −0.2460 * 0.06009 0 −0.364 −0.1281
Red −0.2778 * 0.06009 0 −0.3957 −0.1598
Yellow −0.0952 0.06009 0.113 −0.2132 0.0227
Blue −0.2857 * 0.06009 0 −0.4037 −0.1678
Orange −0.2937 * 0.06009 0 −0.4116 −0.1757
Purple −0.3175 * 0.06009 0 −0.4354 −0.1995
Orange Reference white 0.0476 0.06009 0.428 −0.0703 0.1656
Red 0.0159 0.06009 0.792 −0.1021 0.1338
Yellow 0.1984 * 0.06009 0.001 0.0805 0.3164
Blue 0.0079 0.06009 0.895 −0.11 0.1259
Green 0.2937 * 0.06009 0 0.1757 0.4116
Purple −0.0238 0.06009 0.692 −0.1418 0.0941
Purple Reference white 0.0714 0.06009 0.235 −0.0465 0.1894
Red 0.0397 0.06009 0.509 −0.0783 0.1576
Yellow 0.2222 * 0.06009 0 0.1043 0.3402
Blue 0.0317 0.06009 0.597 −0.0862 0.1497
Green 0.3175 * 0.06009 0 0.1995 0.4354
Orange 0.0238 0.06009 0.692 −0.0941 0.1418

Based on observed means. The error term is Mean Square (Error) = 0.228. * The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

Table A6.

MANOVO Analysis of People’s Logical, Lateral, and Detail Abilities Affected by Colours.

Descriptive Statistics
Coloured_Backgrounds Mean Std. Deviation N
Logical_Response_Time Reference white 43.462 36.98222 42
Yellow 61.7532 129.30801 42
Green 39.5396 37.95461 42
Blue 54.4412 56.83899 42
Purple 67.7787 105.389 42
Red 41.0226 29.54236 42
Orange 48.5597 54.56498 42
Total 50.9367 73.33785 294
Logical_Error_rate Reference white 0.4762 0.50549 42
Yellow 0.2381 0.43108 42
Green 0.1905 0.39744 42
Blue 0.4524 0.50376 42
Purple 0.5 0.50606 42
Red 0.4286 0.50087 42
Orange 0.5714 0.50087 42
Total 0.4082 0.49233 294
Lateral_Response_Time Reference white 46.6805 58.013 42
Yellow 49.7937 48.91309 42
Green 33.3861 28.51248 42
Blue 44.1349 48.82134 42
Purple 58.4328 57.48352 42
Red 35.4139 28.68746 42
Orange 31.5281 28.2063 42
Total 42.7671 45.0009 294
Lateral_Error_rate Reference white 0.4524 0.50376 42
Yellow 0.2619 0.445 42
Green 0.119 0.32777 42
Blue 0.5 0.50606 42
Purple 0.4524 0.50376 42
Red 0.4762 0.50549 42
Orange 0.5 0.50606 42
Total 0.3946 0.48959 294
Detail_Response_Time Reference white 36.4168 38.32565 42
Yellow 42.9077 47.63413 42
Green 31.4918 21.99098 42
Blue 39.1327 42.13849 42
Purple 45.3806 43.86046 42
Red 39.7102 49.63497 42
Orange 41.294 50.15938 42
Total 39.4763 42.69481 294
Detail_Error_Rate Reference white 0.3333 0.47712 42
Yellow 0.3095 0.4679 42
Green 0.2143 0.4153 42
Blue 0.4286 0.50087 42
Purple 0.5238 0.50549 42
Red 0.4524 0.50376 42
Orange 0.3333 0.47712 42
Total 0.3707 0.48383 294

Table A7.

Multivariate Tests of People’s Logical, Lateral, and Detail Abilities Affected by Colours.

Multivariate Tests a
Effect Value F Hypothesis df Error df Sig. Partial Eta Squared Noncent. Parameter Observed Power d
Intercept Pillai’s Trace 0.801 189.496 b 6 282 0 0.801 1136.976 1
Wilks’ Lambda 0.199 189.496 b 6 282 0 0.801 1136.976 1
Hotelling’s Trace 4.032 189.496 b 6 282 0 0.801 1136.976 1
Roy’s Largest Root 4.032 189.496 b 6 282 0 0.801 1136.976 1
Coloured_backgrounds Pillai’s Trace 0.235 1.952 36 1722 0.001 0.039 70.262 1
Wilks’ Lambda 0.778 2.024 36 1241.11 0 0.041 52.907 0.994
Hotelling’s Trace 0.267 2.082 36 1682 0 0.043 74.967 1
Roy’s Largest Root 0.185 8.851 c 6 287 0 0.156 53.108 1

a Design: Intercept + Coloured_backgrounds. b Exact statistic. c The statistic is an upper bound on F that yields a lower bound on the significance level. d Computed using alpha = 0.05.

Table A8.

Multiple Comparisons of People’s Logical, Lateral, and Detail Abilities Affected by Colours.

Multiple Comparisons
LSD
Dependent Variable (I) Coloured_Backgrounds (J) Coloured_Backgrounds Mean Difference (I–J) Std. Error Sig. 95% Confidence Interval
Lower Bound Upper Bound
Logical_Response_Time Reference white Yellow −18.2911 16.01793 0.254 −49.8187 13.2364
Green 3.9224 16.01793 0.807 −27.6051 35.4499
Blue −10.9792 16.01793 0.494 −42.5067 20.5483
Purple −24.3167 16.01793 0.13 −55.8442 7.2108
Red 2.4395 16.01793 0.879 −29.0881 33.967
Orange −5.0977 16.01793 0.751 −36.6252 26.4298
Yellow Reference white 18.2911 16.01793 0.254 −13.2364 49.8187
Green 22.2136 16.01793 0.167 −9.314 53.7411
Blue 7.312 16.01793 0.648 −24.2155 38.8395
Purple −6.0256 16.01793 0.707 −37.5531 25.502
Red 20.7306 16.01793 0.197 −10.7969 52.2581
Orange 13.1934 16.01793 0.411 −18.3341 44.721
Green Reference white −3.9224 16.01793 0.807 −35.4499 27.6051
Yellow −22.2136 16.01793 0.167 −53.7411 9.314
Blue −14.9016 16.01793 0.353 −46.4291 16.6259
Purple −28.2391 16.01793 0.079 −59.7666 3.2884
Red −1.483 16.01793 0.926 −33.0105 30.0446
Orange −9.0201 16.01793 0.574 −40.5476 22.5074
Blue Reference white 10.9792 16.01793 0.494 −20.5483 42.5067
Yellow −7.312 16.01793 0.648 −38.8395 24.2155
Green 14.9016 16.01793 0.353 −16.6259 46.4291
Purple −13.3375 16.01793 0.406 −44.8651 18.19
Red 13.4186 16.01793 0.403 −18.1089 44.9461
Orange 5.8815 16.01793 0.714 −25.6461 37.409
Purple Reference white 24.3167 16.01793 0.13 −7.2108 55.8442
Yellow 6.0256 16.01793 0.707 −25.502 37.5531
Green 28.2391 16.01793 0.079 −3.2884 59.7666
Blue 13.3375 16.01793 0.406 −18.19 44.8651
Red 26.7562 16.01793 0.096 −4.7713 58.2837
Orange 19.219 16.01793 0.231 −12.3085 50.7465
Red Reference white −2.4395 16.01793 0.879 −33.967 29.0881
Yellow −20.7306 16.01793 0.197 −52.2581 10.7969
Green 1.483 16.01793 0.926 −30.0446 33.0105
Blue −13.4186 16.01793 0.403 −44.9461 18.1089
Purple −26.7562 16.01793 0.096 −58.2837 4.7713
Orange −7.5372 16.01793 0.638 −39.0647 23.9904
Orange Reference white 5.0977 16.01793 0.751 −26.4298 36.6252
Yellow −13.1934 16.01793 0.411 −44.721 18.3341
Green 9.0201 16.01793 0.574 −22.5074 40.5476
Blue −5.8815 16.01793 0.714 −37.409 25.6461
Purple −19.219 16.01793 0.231 −50.7465 12.3085
Red 7.5372 16.01793 0.638 −23.9904 39.0647
Logical_Error_rate Reference white Yellow 0.2381 * 0.10468 0.024 0.0321 0.4441
Green 0.2857 * 0.10468 0.007 0.0797 0.4918
Blue 0.0238 0.10468 0.82 −0.1822 0.2299
Purple −0.0238 0.10468 0.82 −0.2299 0.1822
Red 0.0476 0.10468 0.65 −0.1584 0.2537
Orange −0.0952 0.10468 0.364 −0.3013 0.1108
Yellow Reference white −0.2381 * 0.10468 0.024 −0.4441 −0.0321
Green 0.0476 0.10468 0.65 −0.1584 0.2537
Blue −0.2143 * 0.10468 0.042 −0.4203 −0.0082
Purple −0.2619 * 0.10468 0.013 −0.4679 −0.0559
Red −0.1905 0.10468 0.07 −0.3965 0.0156
Orange −0.3333 * 0.10468 0.002 −0.5394 −0.1273
Green Reference white −0.2857 * 0.10468 0.007 −0.4918 −0.0797
Yellow −0.0476 0.10468 0.65 −0.2537 0.1584
Blue −0.2619 * 0.10468 0.013 −0.4679 −0.0559
Purple −0.3095 * 0.10468 0.003 −0.5156 −0.1035
Red −0.2381 * 0.10468 0.024 −0.4441 −0.0321
Orange −0.3810 * 0.10468 0 −0.587 −0.1749
Blue Reference white −0.0238 0.10468 0.82 −0.2299 0.1822
Yellow 0.2143 * 0.10468 0.042 0.0082 0.4203
Green 0.2619 * 0.10468 0.013 0.0559 0.4679
Purple −0.0476 0.10468 0.65 −0.2537 0.1584
Red 0.0238 0.10468 0.82 −0.1822 0.2299
Orange −0.119 0.10468 0.256 −0.3251 0.087
Purple Reference white 0.0238 0.10468 0.82 −0.1822 0.2299
Yellow 0.2619 * 0.10468 0.013 0.0559 0.4679
Green 0.3095 * 0.10468 0.003 0.1035 0.5156
Blue 0.0476 0.10468 0.65 −0.1584 0.2537
Red 0.0714 0.10468 0.496 −0.1346 0.2775
Orange −0.0714 0.10468 0.496 −0.2775 0.1346
Red Reference white −0.0476 0.10468 0.65 −0.2537 0.1584
Yellow 0.1905 0.10468 0.07 −0.0156 0.3965
Green 0.2381 * 0.10468 0.024 0.0321 0.4441
Blue −0.0238 0.10468 0.82 −0.2299 0.1822
Purple −0.0714 0.10468 0.496 −0.2775 0.1346
Orange −0.1429 0.10468 0.173 −0.3489 0.0632
Orange Reference white 0.0952 0.10468 0.364 −0.1108 0.3013
Yellow 0.3333 * 0.10468 0.002 0.1273 0.5394
Green 0.3810 * 0.10468 0 0.1749 0.587
Blue 0.119 0.10468 0.256 −0.087 0.3251
Purple 0.0714 0.10468 0.496 −0.1346 0.2775
Red 0.1429 0.10468 0.173 −0.0632 0.3489
Lateral_Response_Time Reference white Yellow −3.1132 9.71618 0.749 −22.2372 16.0108
Green 13.2943 9.71618 0.172 −5.8297 32.4183
Blue 2.5455 9.71618 0.794 −16.5785 21.6695
Purple −11.7523 9.71618 0.227 −30.8763 7.3717
Red 11.2665 9.71618 0.247 −7.8575 30.3905
Orange 15.1524 9.71618 0.12 −3.9716 34.2764
Yellow Reference white 3.1132 9.71618 0.749 −16.0108 22.2372
Green 16.4076 9.71618 0.092 −2.7165 35.5316
Blue 5.6588 9.71618 0.561 −13.4652 24.7828
Purple −8.6391 9.71618 0.375 −27.7631 10.4849
Red 14.3797 9.71618 0.14 −4.7443 33.5037
Orange 18.2656 9.71618 0.061 −0.8584 37.3896
Green Reference white −13.2943 9.71618 0.172 −32.4183 5.8297
Yellow −16.4076 9.71618 0.092 −35.5316 2.7165
Blue −10.7488 9.71618 0.27 −29.8728 8.3752
Purple −25.0466 * 9.71618 0.01 −44.1707 −5.9226
Red −2.0278 9.71618 0.835 −21.1518 17.0962
Orange 1.8581 9.71618 0.848 −17.2659 20.9821
Blue Reference white −2.5455 9.71618 0.794 −21.6695 16.5785
Yellow −5.6588 9.71618 0.561 −24.7828 13.4652
Green 10.7488 9.71618 0.27 −8.3752 29.8728
Purple −14.2979 9.71618 0.142 −33.4219 4.8261
Red 8.721 9.71618 0.37 −10.403 27.845
Orange 12.6068 9.71618 0.195 −6.5172 31.7308
Purple Reference white 11.7523 9.71618 0.227 −7.3717 30.8763
Yellow 8.6391 9.71618 0.375 −10.4849 27.7631
Green 25.0466 * 9.71618 0.01 5.9226 44.1707
Blue 14.2979 9.71618 0.142 −4.8261 33.4219
Red 23.0188 * 9.71618 0.018 3.8948 42.1428
Orange 26.9047 * 9.71618 0.006 7.7807 46.0287
Red Reference white −11.2665 9.71618 0.247 −30.3905 7.8575
Yellow −14.3797 9.71618 0.14 −33.5037 4.7443
Green 2.0278 9.71618 0.835 −17.0962 21.1518
Blue −8.721 9.71618 0.37 −27.845 10.403
Purple −23.0188 * 9.71618 0.018 −42.1428 −3.8948
Orange 3.8859 9.71618 0.69 −15.2381 23.0099
Orange Reference white −15.1524 9.71618 0.12 −34.2764 3.9716
Yellow −18.2656 9.71618 0.061 −37.3896 0.8584
Green −1.8581 9.71618 0.848 −20.9821 17.2659
Blue −12.6068 9.71618 0.195 −31.7308 6.5172
Purple −26.9047 * 9.71618 0.006 −46.0287 −7.7807
Red −3.8859 9.71618 0.69 −23.0099 15.2381
Lateral_Error_rate Reference white Yellow 0.1905 0.1037 0.067 −0.0136 0.3946
Green 0.3333 * 0.1037 0.001 0.1292 0.5374
Blue −0.0476 0.1037 0.646 −0.2517 0.1565
Purple 0 0.1037 1 −0.2041 0.2041
Red −0.0238 0.1037 0.819 −0.2279 0.1803
Orange −0.0476 0.1037 0.646 −0.2517 0.1565
Yellow Reference white −0.1905 0.1037 0.067 −0.3946 0.0136
Green 0.1429 0.1037 0.169 −0.0612 0.347
Blue −0.2381 * 0.1037 0.022 −0.4422 −0.034
Purple −0.1905 0.1037 0.067 −0.3946 0.0136
Red −0.2143 * 0.1037 0.04 −0.4184 −0.0102
Orange −0.2381 * 0.1037 0.022 −0.4422 −0.034
Green Reference white −0.3333 * 0.1037 0.001 −0.5374 −0.1292
Yellow −0.1429 0.1037 0.169 −0.347 0.0612
Blue −0.3810 * 0.1037 0 −0.5851 −0.1768
Purple −0.3333 * 0.1037 0.001 −0.5374 −0.1292
Red −0.3571 * 0.1037 0.001 −0.5612 −0.153
Orange −0.3810 * 0.1037 0 −0.5851 −0.1768
Blue Reference white 0.0476 0.1037 0.646 −0.1565 0.2517
Yellow 0.2381 * 0.1037 0.022 0.034 0.4422
Green 0.3810 * 0.1037 0 0.1768 0.5851
Purple 0.0476 0.1037 0.646 −0.1565 0.2517
Red 0.0238 0.1037 0.819 −0.1803 0.2279
Orange 0 0.1037 1 −0.2041 0.2041
Purple Reference white 0 0.1037 1 −0.2041 0.2041
Yellow 0.1905 0.1037 0.067 −0.0136 0.3946
Green 0.3333 * 0.1037 0.001 0.1292 0.5374
Blue −0.0476 0.1037 0.646 −0.2517 0.1565
Red −0.0238 0.1037 0.819 −0.2279 0.1803
Orange −0.0476 0.1037 0.646 −0.2517 0.1565
Red Reference white 0.0238 0.1037 0.819 −0.1803 0.2279
Yellow 0.2143 * 0.1037 0.04 0.0102 0.4184
Green 0.3571 * 0.1037 0.001 0.153 0.5612
Blue −0.0238 0.1037 0.819 −0.2279 0.1803
Purple 0.0238 0.1037 0.819 −0.1803 0.2279
Orange −0.0238 0.1037 0.819 −0.2279 0.1803
Orange Reference white 0.0476 0.1037 0.646 −0.1565 0.2517
Yellow 0.2381 * 0.1037 0.022 0.034 0.4422
Green 0.3810 * 0.1037 0 0.1768 0.5851
Blue 0 0.1037 1 −0.2041 0.2041
Purple 0.0476 0.1037 0.646 −0.1565 0.2517
Red 0.0238 0.1037 0.819 −0.1803 0.2279
Detail_Response_Time Reference white Yellow −6.491 9.36793 0.489 −24.9295 11.9476
Green 4.925 9.36793 0.599 −13.5136 23.3635
Blue −2.716 9.36793 0.772 −21.1545 15.7226
Purple −8.9639 9.36793 0.339 −27.4024 9.4747
Red −3.2935 9.36793 0.725 −21.7321 15.1451
Orange −4.8773 9.36793 0.603 −23.3159 13.5613
Yellow Reference white 6.491 9.36793 0.489 −11.9476 24.9295
Green 11.4159 9.36793 0.224 −7.0227 29.8545
Blue 3.775 9.36793 0.687 −14.6636 22.2136
Purple −2.4729 9.36793 0.792 −20.9115 15.9657
Red 3.1975 9.36793 0.733 −15.2411 21.636
Orange 1.6137 9.36793 0.863 −16.8249 20.0522
Green Reference white −4.925 9.36793 0.599 −23.3635 13.5136
Yellow −11.4159 9.36793 0.224 −29.8545 7.0227
Blue −7.6409 9.36793 0.415 −26.0795 10.7977
Purple −13.8888 9.36793 0.139 −32.3274 4.5498
Red −8.2185 9.36793 0.381 −26.657 10.2201
Orange −9.8023 9.36793 0.296 −28.2408 8.6363
Blue Reference white 2.716 9.36793 0.772 −15.7226 21.1545
Yellow −3.775 9.36793 0.687 −22.2136 14.6636
Green 7.6409 9.36793 0.415 −10.7977 26.0795
Purple −6.2479 9.36793 0.505 −24.6865 12.1907
Red −0.5775 9.36793 0.951 −19.0161 17.861
Orange −2.1613 9.36793 0.818 −20.5999 16.2772
Purple Reference white 8.9639 9.36793 0.339 −9.4747 27.4024
Yellow 2.4729 9.36793 0.792 −15.9657 20.9115
Green 13.8888 9.36793 0.139 −4.5498 32.3274
Blue 6.2479 9.36793 0.505 −12.1907 24.6865
Red 5.6704 9.36793 0.545 −12.7682 24.1089
Orange 4.0866 9.36793 0.663 −14.352 22.5251
Red Reference white 3.2935 9.36793 0.725 −15.1451 21.7321
Yellow −3.1975 9.36793 0.733 −21.636 15.2411
Green 8.2185 9.36793 0.381 −10.2201 26.657
Blue 0.5775 9.36793 0.951 −17.861 19.0161
Purple −5.6704 9.36793 0.545 −24.1089 12.7682
Orange −1.5838 9.36793 0.866 −20.0224 16.8548
Orange Reference white 4.8773 9.36793 0.603 −13.5613 23.3159
Yellow −1.6137 9.36793 0.863 −20.0522 16.8249
Green 9.8023 9.36793 0.296 −8.6363 28.2408
Blue 2.1613 9.36793 0.818 −16.2772 20.5999
Purple −4.0866 9.36793 0.663 −22.5251 14.352
Red 1.5838 9.36793 0.866 −16.8548 20.0224
Detail_Error_Rate Reference white Yellow 0.0238 0.10455 0.82 −0.182 0.2296
Green 0.119 0.10455 0.256 −0.0867 0.3248
Blue −0.0952 0.10455 0.363 −0.301 0.1105
Purple −0.1905 0.10455 0.07 −0.3963 0.0153
Red −0.119 0.10455 0.256 −0.3248 0.0867
Orange 0 0.10455 1 −0.2058 0.2058
Yellow Reference white −0.0238 0.10455 0.82 −0.2296 0.182
Green 0.0952 0.10455 0.363 −0.1105 0.301
Blue −0.119 0.10455 0.256 −0.3248 0.0867
Purple −0.2143 * 0.10455 0.041 −0.4201 −0.0085
Red −0.1429 0.10455 0.173 −0.3486 0.0629
Orange −0.0238 0.10455 0.82 −0.2296 0.182
Green Reference white −0.119 0.10455 0.256 −0.3248 0.0867
Yellow −0.0952 0.10455 0.363 −0.301 0.1105
Blue −0.2143 * 0.10455 0.041 −0.4201 −0.0085
Purple −0.3095 * 0.10455 0.003 −0.5153 −0.1037
Red −0.2381 * 0.10455 0.024 −0.4439 −0.0323
Orange −0.119 0.10455 0.256 −0.3248 0.0867
Blue Reference white 0.0952 0.10455 0.363 −0.1105 0.301
Yellow 0.119 0.10455 0.256 −0.0867 0.3248
Green 0.2143 * 0.10455 0.041 0.0085 0.4201
Purple −0.0952 0.10455 0.363 −0.301 0.1105
Red −0.0238 0.10455 0.82 −0.2296 0.182
Orange 0.0952 0.10455 0.363 −0.1105 0.301
Purple Reference white 0.1905 0.10455 0.07 −0.0153 0.3963
Yellow 0.2143 * 0.10455 0.041 0.0085 0.4201
Green 0.3095 * 0.10455 0.003 0.1037 0.5153
Blue 0.0952 0.10455 0.363 −0.1105 0.301
Red 0.0714 0.10455 0.495 −0.1344 0.2772
Orange 0.1905 0.10455 0.07 −0.0153 0.3963
Red Reference white 0.119 0.10455 0.256 −0.0867 0.3248
Yellow 0.1429 0.10455 0.173 −0.0629 0.3486
Green 0.2381 * 0.10455 0.024 0.0323 0.4439
Blue 0.0238 0.10455 0.82 −0.182 0.2296
Purple −0.0714 0.10455 0.495 −0.2772 0.1344
Orange 0.119 0.10455 0.256 −0.0867 0.3248
Orange Reference white 0 0.10455 1 −0.2058 0.2058
Yellow 0.0238 0.10455 0.82 −0.182 0.2296
Green 0.119 0.10455 0.256 −0.0867 0.3248
Blue −0.0952 0.10455 0.363 −0.301 0.1105
Purple −0.1905 0.10455 0.07 −0.3963 0.0153
Red −0.119 0.10455 0.256 −0.3248 0.0867

Based on observed means. The error term is Mean Square (Error) = 0.230. * The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, G.X.; methodology, G.X.; software, G.X., Q.P. and M.L.; validation, G.X. and M.L.; formal analysis, G.X. and L.Y.; data curation, G.X.; writing—original draft preparation, G.X.; writing—review and editing, G.X., S.W. and P.H., F.Q.; supervision, P.H., F.Q. and S.W.; All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of University of Leeds (protocol code LTDESN-134).

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Footnotes

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Data Availability Statement

The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author.


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