Every motorist knows the meaning of a red traffic light. Red is used to warn of danger or to mark wrong answers on tests. Researchers at the University of Rochester say that not only does the color red command drivers to stop their cars, the color red can impact test scores and performance.

In four experiments, the authors of the study found that if subjects even saw a hint of the color red before taking a test, it caused them to do poorly. The association of red with mistakes and failure is so ingrained that being shown the color red before a test diminished the subject’s ability to do well. Two more tests showed that red influences motivation.

The findings were published in an article in the Journal of Experimental Psychology. The lead author, Andrew J. Elliot, is a professor of Psychology at the University of Rochester.

The article’s hypothesis is based on the idea that color can evoke motivation and have an effect without the subject being aware of it. “It leads people to do worse without their knowledge,” says Elliot, when it comes to academic achievement. In one of the six tests given, for example, people were allowed a choice of questions to answer. Most of them chose to answer the easiest question, a classic example of how to avoid failure.

University of Rochester

The letter A is red, and the musical note middle C is blue, some numbers are a friendly yellow and others more sinister-appearing, the word “love” tastes like chocolate. For people with synesthesia, the world is experienced in ways where the senses cross and blend.

Synesthesia comes from the Greek syn- meaning union and aesthesis meaning sensation. The condition is thought to be a cross-wiring in the brain, that brings two senses into play to create a different perceptual experience. Another theory is cross-activation of brain regions. Normally when one region of the brain is active, neighboring regions are inhibited. A chemical imbalance in the brain, for instance a blocking of an inhibitory neurotransmitter, may allow activity in a region of the brain unrelated to the first, allowing for synesthesia to occur.

According to a study, synesthesia is seven times more common in creative people as in the general population. Synesthetes have a way with metaphor, a natural gift for linking seemingly unrelated concepts and ideas. They have an unusually good memory for things like phone numbers and polysyllabic terminology because numbers and letters are perceived in colors.

Recently, the CBS news show 60 Minutes interviewed Daniel Tammet, a savant who also experiences synesthesia. At Oxford University, Tammet recited the number Pi to 22,514 digits. According to Tammet, the numbers appear to him as a landscape of shapes, colors and textures.

The study of synesthesia first surfaced in 1880, but was dismissed and forgotten until recently as scientists begin to discover brain processes that may explain the phenomenon.

Hearing Colors, Tasting Shapes - Scientific American

Brain Man - 60 Minutes

Synesthesia - Wikipedia