Relationship between Lightness of Foreground and Background and Short-term Memory

抄録

Humans memory is defined as the ability to encode, store, and retrieve information. Memory is categorized into three types: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Short-term memory plays an important role in our daily life because it allows information to transfer from short-term memory in to long-term memory, where the brain permanently stores it for future recall when necessary. Short-term memory involves the capacity to store a small amount of information, such as text, forms, and colors, in the mind and keep it readily available for a short period time. This type of memory can be triggered by both sound and color. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between a lightness contrast between foreground and background colors and short-term memory. Four subjects participated in short-term memory tests by using random numbers and abstract image tests. The foreground and background colors in these tests varied across five levels of lightness: 91.32, 68.33, 49.87, 34.73, and 13.28. In the experiment, subjects were asked to memorize giving random numbers or abstract images and then to recall them. The results of the study revealed that, in the random number test, the highest short-term memory score was achieved when the lightness level of the numbers was 34.73 on a background with a lightness level of 91.32. The average short-term memory score was found to be 22.25 points (S.D. 12.971). In the abstract image test, the highest score was obtained when the lightness level of the images was 13.28 on a background with a lightness level of 91.32. The average score of short-term memory was found to be 24.25 points (S.D. 10.112). Furthermore, the experimental results indicated that when both the random numbers and abstract images were tested against a bright background, participants exhibited a higher average score in short-term memory compared to the dark background.