The influence of colour in the appraisal of visual information by professionals and others
Submitting Institution
University of ChichesterUnit of Assessment
Psychology, Psychiatry and NeuroscienceSummary Impact Type
SocietalResearch Subject Area(s)
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences, Public Health and Health Services
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences: Psychology
Summary of the impact
Public understanding and debate at the national level have been impacted
upon by the research work of psychologists at the University. Furthermore,
through bespoke knowledge exchange workshops understanding, intentions and
practices of education and care professionals have changed. The impact
draws on the work of Burkitt and Greenlees, both chartered psychologists
and Readers at the University undertaking applied psychological research
in the area of colour. Burkitt has published on the use and meaning of
colour in children's drawings and Greenlees on its effect on sporting
performance particularly in football.
Underpinning research
The research of Burkitt and Greenlees form the two strands of research
that underpin the impacts described in 4). Dr Esther Burkitt has been
employed at the University of Chichester since September 2009 and Dr Iain
Greenlees since October 1998.
Children's drawings and colour: Children's drawings are used in
communicative and educational settings as a way to provide insights to how
children feel and think about the topics they draw. The interpretation of
children's drawings has been problematic, however. Dr Burkitt's work was
the first to explore influences in drawing situations that impact on how,
and how reliably, we can interpret children's drawings of emotional
information. She varied systematically audience information to examine its
influence on children's communication of emotional information through
drawings, and has produced a body of research to show how various cues in
drawings contexts influence how children draw, thereby providing much
needed qualification to the interpretation of emotions on the basis of
children's drawings alone (e.g. Burkitt & Sheppard, 2013). A key
insight is that children using drawings to convey emotional information
about themselves vary their depiction as a function of who they are
drawing for (Burkitt & Watling, 2013). For example, they tend to draw
themselves in a positive or negative frame of mind very differently
depending upon whether they are drawing for an adult or a peer, and
whether the adult or peer is familiar. She has also shown that we need to
understand the nature of the materials available to children in drawing
situations, as these may influence how children represent positive and
negative affect (Burkitt & Barrett, 2011). A key insight is that
children, their parents/ carers and their teachers often hold different
views about the value and use of drawing which can result in gaps in the
harmonisation of practice in affording children the expressive and
communicative benefits that drawings can confer (Burkitt, Jolley &
Rose, 2010).
Colour and sport performance: Historically, the use of colour in
sporting uniforms has been viewed simply as a means to distinguish between
combatants (for ease of officiating and spectating). However, this view
was challenged by the emergence of laboratory-based research evidence
showing that the presentation of red stimuli may have a deleterious effect
on performance (for a review see Elliot & Maier, in press) and by
archival research that indicated that martial arts competitors wearing red
have a statistical advantage over fellow competitors wearing blue (Hill
& Barton, 2005). Dr Greenlees' work occupies a unique place in the
literature as it was the first to verify these results experimentally
within the sporting domain and to show a potential mechanism for the
effects of red uniforms. Dr Greenlees' first study in this area
demonstrated that soccer penalty takers wearing red were perceived by
goalkeepers to be more confident, competent and relaxed than when they
were seen wearing white. The goalkeepers in this study also reported being
less confident in their ability to save penalties from red-clad performers
than blue-clad performers. This indicated that red uniforms may influence
how performers are perceived and the confidence levels of perceivers. The
second study by Dr Greenlees established that uniform colour may influence
performance success in sport. In this study, penalty takers were asked to
take a series of penalties against goalkeepers who wore either red, green,
blue or yellow jerseys. The results showed that penalty takers scored
significantly fewer penalties (54%) against red-clad keepers than against
blue, yellow or green-clad keepers (72%, 69% and 75% respectively). This
research has strengthened claims for the impact of uniform colour in sport
and stimulated debate amongst the wider population.
References to the research
1. Burkitt, E. & Sheppard, L. (2013). Children's colour use to
portray themselves and others with happy, sad and mixed emotion,
Educational Psychology, DOI:10.1080/01443410.2013.785059
2. Burkitt, E. & Barrett, M. (2011). The effects of different drawing
materials on children's drawings of positive and negative human figures,
Educational Psychology, 4 (11), 459-479.
3. Burkitt, E. & Watling, D. (2013).The impact of audience age and
familiarity on children's drawings of themselves in contrasting affective
states. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 37, (3), 222-234.
4. Burkitt, E., Jolley, R. & Rose, S. E. (2010). Art educational
issues in the attitudes and practices that shape children's drawing
experience at home and at school, International Journal of Design and Art
Education, 29, (3), 257-270.
Details of the impact
The impact consists of two strands:
- Impact on the understanding and intentions of a range of education and
care professions;
- Informing public debate and understanding about colour, drawings and
behaviour and development.
Informing public debate and understanding
Public understanding and debate about colour and drawings have been
influenced and informed by the research work of Burkitt and Greenlees.
Burkitt's and Greenlees' has been debated across a range of media
platforms across the world as is evidenced below (and supported in the
corroborating evidence).
Dr Greenlees work on colour as a cue in football was picked up in 2008
and more widely in April 2010. The latter study also led to the BBC
Horizon programme inviting Greenlees (and Russell Hill an anthropologist
at Durham University) to extend the research as part of the programme
aired August 2011 (viewed by 1.49M viewers; BARB viewing figures.) The
Director of this programme describes the impact it had on her and her team
in her blog "The whole thing was a technicolour experience that made us
see the world through different eyes". The programme was reviewed
and discussed widely, themes addressed in the programme (including
Greenlees work) were picked up and explored or challenged (e.g. Guardian,
theartsdesk.com, http://www.althinking.com,
http://petapixel.com/, http://www.mirror.co.uk
, Radio Times).
Furthermore, specific evidence of debate is available as a download from
national radio broadcasters outside the UK, for example NPR (National
Public Radio; June 05, 2010; US; 26M listeners per week;
website ranked 672 of all websites globally based on alexa.com figures)
and Radio New Zealand (1 May 2010; reaches 14% of national population of
NZ, 491,000 listeners). In the first example Greenlees research is
discussed by an esteemed guest mathematician (Prof Devlin, Stanford
University) and in the latter Greenlees was invited to describe his
research and then entered into a debate with the presenter around
questions such as whether the effect related to the penalty taker or
goalkeeper. Greenlees was then invited to give advice to all listening
goalkeepers. Furthermore, the backdrop of the England World Cup campaign
(South Africa 2010) meant that Greenlees work was also discussed at that
time by those with an interest in England's chances of success; it was
discussed by Chris Evans and Moira Stuart on Evans Radio 2 show (Audience
reach 13-14M), on Talksport (Audience reach of 2.5M listeners).
The public debate informed and influenced by Greenlees' work is evident
in many online forums. As indicated above, themes and implications of
Greenlees' work are picked up and commented up by bloggers, commentators,
football fans and other members of the public. Sites, some of them hugely
popular in global terms, range from http://www.scienceofsocceronline.com,
http://www.goalkeepersaredifferent.com,
http://www.sbs.com.au/, http://bleacherreport.com/,
http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/.
Example debates which demonstrate that individuals have engaged with
research and their thinking has been stimulated: Bleacher report (ranked
275 of all sites globally based on web traffic, alexa.com): "..Two,
while we may be culturally conditioned to see red as a danger signal,
there's actually no evidence that wearing red has a negative effect on
the penalty taker's performance during actual football matches". New
Scientist's Daniel Elkan draws from Greenlees work in his discussion piece
on how certain colours have an impact on the way people think and behave,
"Clearly the effect of wearing red is strong enough to tip the balance
of fights and soccer matches, but where did it originate?", http://www.sbs.com.au/
(ranked 9149 of all sites globally based on web traffic, alexa.com).
Dr Burkitt's work has been picked up and discussed by a range of media
platforms across the world although not to such a wide extent as
Greenlees' work. For example, Dr Burkitt was asked by Lloyds Pharmacy
(November 2011) to analyse adults drawings of the experiences physical
pain and produced an analysis of 500 adults' drawings as part of this
consultancy work. The Lloyds press release was picked up by others e.g.
Fibromyalgia Association UK. Her research has also attracted media
attention with an interview with The Guardian published online commenting
on the childhood drawing of a Felix Baumgartner (when kids' drawings
reveal their ambitions 16/10/13). Burkitt was quoted throughout the
article which prompted a number of online comments; the article was
commented on in other blogs e.g. http://02mysoup-aa.soup.io/tag/Children.
Burkitt's work has been picked up and discussed in the context of literacy
http://mradamhigherenglish.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/reading-and-summarising/.
Impact on the understanding and intentions of a range of education and
care professions
Dr Esther Burkitt designed and ran a programme of knowledge exchange
workshops in Spring 2013. These workshops were designed to raise awareness
of two key issues identified through Dr Burkitt's research, namely that:
different perspectives on interpretation can be taken by different
stakeholders in understanding children's communication via drawing; and
that cues in the drawing situation influence the emotional basis of what
and how children draw. The criteria for the workshops were professions
with involvement with child development and drawing, educational and early
years and parent groups. Workshops and attendees are as follows:
- Parental group (attendees = 6) (April 2013);
- Preparatory school teachers (June 2013) (attendees = 10) & July
2013 (attendees = 8);
- Primary and secondary school teachers who became teacher trainers (May
2013) (attendees = 8);
- Early Years trainees with placement roles participated in two
workshops (April 2013) (attendees = 20 );
- SENCO practitioners engaged in two workshops in June 2013 (attendees =
25 ) (total of 77 participants, 51 of whom were professionals, 20
trainees and 6 parents).
The groups reported during and after the workshops that insights about
colour use and audience types would inform their comments to children,
would assist in framing feedback about drawing and would give them food
for thought for integration into future lessons. Post-workshop feedback
from educational and early years professionals yielded a range of comments
demonstrating changes in perspective and actual and planned behaviour. For
example, the knowledge that children will draw important figures
differently depending on who they are drawing for yielded such quotes as "We
will be observing the pictures children create for others and those
which they do for themselves to see if there are differences" and "If
I want children to do their best work I tell them that someone important
to them would like to see it! They take more care and attention and I
ask them to show their pictures to another adult who gives them praise",
and "we will be observing the pictures children create for others and
those which they do for themselves to see if there are differences".
The follow up included asking about any changes that have arisen on the
basis of findings about colour use, wellbeing and emotion and such
responses included "I have definitively changed the easel and
resources: added more colours and made the area more private" and "I
think in the future I will be more aware of children's use of colour and
I would be interested in finding out more about possible links between
colour and emotion". The parent group participants also reported,
through post-workshop feedback, that they had gained an understanding of
how some features in children's drawings and elements in the drawing
situation can be understood to enable more accurate interpretation of
emotion and communication in children's drawings thus facilitating better
communication with the child. Follow up exchanges indicated that family
members asked more questions about the child's drawing and encouraged the
behaviour more at home and at work. The latter outcomes were also
reflected in a small online survey of parents and family members (N=40)
conducted in in April 2013 designed to gather information about views and
practices and feedback about key findings regarding colour use. 94% of the
respondents reported that they would talk more children about the colour
use, preferences and features they draw in order to better understand how
they feel about the topics they draw.
Sources to corroborate the impact
Available on request:
- Participant list for children's drawings workshops;
- Emails from children's drawings workshop participants;
- Raw survey data from follow up survey around children's drawings;
- Contact details of consultant who contracted Dr Esther Burkitt on
behalf of Lloyds Pharmacy to undertake work on pain and drawings.
Various online sources, Greenlees:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/blogbbctv/posts/horizon?comments_page=2
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/1998079/How-to-score-a-penalty-outstare-the-goalkeeper.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127495657
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/thiswayup/audio/2281997/goalkeepers'-shirt-colours
http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/aug/08/tv-review-horizon-see
http://www.radiotimes.com/episode/j9bnc/horizon-do-you-see-what-i-see
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1266309/Finally-secret-winning-penalties-Dress-goalie-red-reading-Fabio.html
http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/goalkeepers-wearing-red-more-likely-to-save-penalties-1-800006
http://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/2010/04/17/woolsey_why_goalies_should_wear_red.html
http://alevelpsychology.co.uk/news/interesting/why-england-s-goalkeeper-should-wear-red-in-the-world-cup.html
http://www.11v11.com/forum/meaningless-stats/2155-red-colour-keepers.html
http://phys.org/news192676124.html#nRlv
(Football penalties: science is on the spot)
http://www.goalkeepersaredifferent.com/keeper/shirtframe.htm
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2009/09/08/colour-me-surprised-how-hues-affect-you
http://www.nigoalkeeping.com/home/bootroom.htm#boot23
http://pgiw.wordpress.com/2010/04/17/how-to-win-the-world-cup-pick-a-red-goalkeeper-2/
Various online sources, Burkitt:
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/shortcuts/2012/oct/16/felix-baumgartner-kids-drawings
http://02mysoup-aa.soup.io/tag/Children
http://mradamhigherenglish.wordpress.com/2012/08/17/reading-and-summarising/
http://www.fibromyalgia-associationuk.org/general-articles-highlights-208/688-pictures-that-tell-a-thousand-painful-words