Short-term memory for colors and color names.

Abstract

The Brown-Peterson paradigm was used to study the way colors and color names are encoded in memory. Three colored strips or the names of the 3 colors were presented on each of 4 trials. The 30-sec. retention interval was filled with number counting. Two control groups received the same material, either colors or names of colors, on all 4 trials. Two experimental groups were shifted from color names to colors or from colors to color names on test trial 4. The results indicated that (1) proactive inhibition developed to both colors and color names, (2) recall of colors was superior to color names, and (3) release from proactive inhibition was found in the group shifted from color names to colors but not in the group shifted in the opposite direction. The results were discussed in terms of the dual-coding hypothesis developed by Paivio.