THE POWER OF PERCEPTION
Color fills our world, but there are many questions about how it works and why By Jennifer Hernandez | Photo by Marisa Ross
Whenever I’m working on a big project, I enjoy looking out the window at the towering vibrant trees of north central Florida. When I look at the way the sun shines on the leaves, making them glisten in different shades of sage or forest green, I feel relaxed and inspired. These overwhelmingly positive vibes make it easy to assume most people would see and react similarly to these trees — or any colorful object for that matter. But there’s more to perception than what meets the eye. We know certain colors lead to common thoughts and feelings, but a variety of factors, including psychology and culture, influence the way we perceive color. To understand its effect, we first have to look at the process of vision and how we give color meaning.
How do we perceive color?
Kendra Cherry, a psychology expert for The New York Times and About.com, describes perception as the way our senses recognize and respond to environmental factors. Sensory response to color is often seen in consumers. According to Kissmetrics, a customer intelligence and Web analytics site, color is one of the most powerful methods of design. When aimed at buyers, red signals energy, which increases their heart rate and creates a sense of urgency, which is ideal for sale and clearance signs. Blue implies trust and security, characteristics businesses often want to showcase, and yellow’s optimism sells the idea of youthfulness. To get a better understanding of how we actually see these colors, Clay Smith, an associate professor in the UF Department of Ophthalmology, said the eye itself doesn’t see color but instead captures particles of light called photons. Vision primarily starts with photoreceptor cells called cones, he said. The cone’s center has a vitamin A molecule, which grabs the photons. Surrounding the cone are three proteins — red, green and blue photoreceptor pigments — which absorb the different wavelengths in the photons. When the vitamin A grabs a photon, energy changes the shape of the red, blue or green protein, transmitting a nerve impulse to the brain, Smith said. The brain uses this message to identify what color we’re seeing.
Does color matter?
When it comes to our cuisine, Smith said color is vital. Hunter-gatherers who foraged for food in the wild used different colors as signals for dangerous foods, such as toxic red berries. But today, color surprisingly doesn’t have the same significance. “In our daily life, color is not that critical,” he said. “It’s not as evolutionarily important anymore, but there’s something pleasurable about it to us.” Acute vision is more important in modern society, Smith said,
6
because it helps us see fine resolution in texts, pictures and movement. Our eyes are constantly moving, even if it’s just a little bit. If you were to numb your eyes so they wouldn’t move while trying to focus on something, the brain would completely wipe out that object from your visual perception. Having minimal movement in the eye helps us keep things in perspective and lets us distinguish one object from another.
Is color the same for everyone?
Keith White, a UF psychology and ophthalmology associate professor, said one color doesn’t cause a specific chemical reaction in the brain. Instead, all colors produce many different reactions. White said colors are culturally defined, and people develop associations with colors based on their unique experiences and cultures. “In India, white would be the right color for a funeral, but in the United States, that would be the wrong thing to do,” he said. Red is probably the only color that has a widespread meaning because most organisms bleed red, White said. However, the phrase “seeing red,” for example, implies anger or violence, whereas some people faint at the sight of blood. Thus, there’s no one-to-one correspondence between any color and a specific emotion. Does that mean I’ve been conditioned by my culture to look for inspiration in those lush green trees? Not necessarily. Green has been scientifically found to motivate personal wellness. In a 2012 study published by the “Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,” four German scientists found a glimpse of green before a creative activity could enhance a participant’s performance in both word- and picture-based tasks. Stephanie Lichtenfeld, the study’s author, concluded green may be a cue that inspires motivation for improvement.
How are colors used in society?
Kay Tappan, a UF public relations lecturer, reiterated that color is very much culturally bound. She said red’s ability to capture attention and create excitement might be why some news organizations like CNN and BBC News use it as their signature color. She contrasted red’s alarming energy with blue's welcoming connotations. “In the United States, the most popular color is blue,” Tappan said. “Psychologically, it conveys a sense of friendliness and openness, perhaps as a result of our associations with blue skies.” This could be why a majority of social networking sites and media companies, such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, FOX and CBS, use the hue in their logos and themes. Although we’d like to assume our hearts naturally pitter-patter at the sight of red or mellow down when looking at a blue sky, these emotions essentially derive from cultural influences. These color theories help us give meaning to what we see. By understanding how we use color and realizing people don’t always see it similarly, we can better perceive the world.