In Colore Veritas? Color effects on the speed and accuracy of true/false responses

Abstract

In addition to their perceptual or aesthetic function, colors often carry conceptual meaning. In quizzes, for instance, true and false answers are typically marked in green and red. In three experiments, we used a Stroop task to investigate automatic green-true associations and red-false associations, respectively. In Experiments 1 and 2, stimuli were true statements (e.g., “tables are furniture”) and false statements (e.g., “bananas are buildings”) that were displayed in different combination of green, red, and gray depending on the experimental condition. In Experiment 3, we used true-related and false-related words shown in green, red, or gray. Participants had to indicate the validity (or semantic meaning) of each statement (or word) as fast and as accurately as possible. We expected that participants would perform best when they had to categorize green stimuli as “true” and red stimuli as “false”. The prediction was only confirmed when green and red stimuli were presented within the same context (i.e., same experimental condition). This finding supports the dimension-specificity hypothesis which states that cross-modal associations (here: associations between color and validity) depend on the context (here: the color-context). Moreover, the observed color-validity effects were stronger when participants had to categorize single words instead of sentences and when they had to provide speeded responses. Taken together, these results suggest that controlled processing counteracts the influence of automatic color associations on true/false responses.

Color-validity associations put to the test: Examining the robustness of red-false and green-true associations in the Implicit Association Test

“…The finding that the green-yellow IAT did not display an effect in the hypothesized direction might suggest that the association between green and true is weaker than that one between red and false. Yet, Nadarevic et al (2021) observed symmetrical color-validity associations for red and green in the context of each other, and no validity associations for either color when paired with gray. Note, however, that in contrast to the Stroop task used by Nadarevic and colleagues, the IAT indicates relative associations (e.g., the relative strength of green-true vs. yellow-true and green-false vs. yellow-false associations, respectively).…”

“…In Experiment 2, gray served as the control color because it appears to be neutral in the context of color-validity associations (Nadarevic et al, 2021). In addition, we used easy mathematical equations instead of statements as stimuli for the categories true and false to see if the effects would replicate with these materials.…”

“…In light of the findings of Nadarevic et al (2021) and Schietecat et al (2018b), the goal of the present research was to test whether we would also find evidence for red-false and greentrue associations when measuring these associations with the IAT instead of the Stroop task. Moreover, we were interested in possible color-context effects.…”

“…Following the stream of research differentially examining the meaning of red and green in different contexts, Nadarevic et al (2021) tested whether people associate red with the attribute false and green with the attribute true. Using a modified Stroop task, the authors found that participants were faster and more accurate when categorizing falsity-related stimuli in red and truth-related stimuli in green than vice versa.…”

“…The following series of experiments aims at replicating red-false and green-true associations found by Nadarevic et al (2021) by using the IAT. Participants' task was to categorize truth-and falsity-related materials as well as representatives of red, green, and a control color.…”