Color temperature’s impact on task performance and brainwaves of school-age children

Abstract

[Purpose] This study investigated color temperature’s impact on task performance. It presents a scientific analysis of brainwave and task performance time changes, and the results of a self-report type survey. [Subjects] Twenty-four elementary school fifth-grade boys and girls with no visual problems participated in the experiment. [Methods] Physiological reaction times of task performance were measured in a laboratory that could fix and maintain color temperature. Brainwave changes and the task performance times were measured, and a self-report questionnaire was conducted in order to measure of emotional reactions. [Results] Regarding the brainwave changes associated with color temperature, alpha waves were emitted in the O2 area when puzzle tasks were illuminated by orange light and low and high beta waves were emitted in the F3 area under white light. Five items (Brilliant, Soft, Lively, Relaxed, Open) were reported predominantly in responses to orange light in the self-report questionnaire. [Conclusion] The results of this study show that relaxation and stability are not assured when the color temperature is low, and that concentration and cognitive activity are not necessarily easier when the color temperature is high. The color temperature change when performing tasks promoted emotional factors more than brainwave, a biological change.

Addressing Visual Comfort Issues in Healthcare Facilities Using LED Lighting Technology - A Review on Daylighting Importance, Impact of Correlated Colour Temperature, Human Responses and Other Visual Comfort Parameters

“…The appearance of lighting is the CCT of light. In another experiment, the former hypothesis is further endorsed to test the influence of lighting colours on human task performance but instead focuses only on mesopic vision [44,45]. The findings were consistent with the fact that the response time of humans to a concerted physical activity in a room differs at various CCT extremes.…”

“…Although the biological shift to lighting parameters is prevalent, the paper provided concrete evidence that students were in a calming mood at lower CCTs. Students were alert at the other higher extreme of CCT [44].…”

The effect of dynamic correlated colour temperature changes on alertness and performance

“…This finding is consistent with that found by Park. 18 They investigated the impact of colour temperature on task performance and found that alpha waves were more activated by a lower colour temperature.…”

“…17 Park et al. 18 tested the impact of colour temperature on school-age children by changing the static light on a fixed schedule. Their results indicated that the physiological reaction, concentration-related brainwaves, was elicited more strongly under light with a relatively high CCT.…”

Development and Implementation of a Self-Optimizable Smart Lighting System Based on Learning Context in Classroom

“…Existing studies have shown inconsistent results. For instance, some empirical results [52,53] did not support the suggestion that higher CCT benefits students in terms of focused attention and performance [11,18]. In the experiment of [11], contradictory results were found between participants from grade four and grade six.…”