A virtual reality study in university classrooms: The influence of classroom colour on memory and attention

Abstract

[EN] Design of teaching spaces influences the cognitive abilities of its users. Among the design variables, the colour stands out for the ease of its implementation and its aesthetic possibilities. Previous studies suggest that it can influence students' academic progress. However, due to the difficulty in studying their combinations, only a limited number of colours have been exhaustively studied. This was the objective of the present study: to contribute to the study of the effect of different colour parameters applied on the walls of university classrooms on students’ memory and attention performances. To address it, a virtual reality study was carried out with 80 university students. The colour variable was studied through two parameters: hue (8 settings) and saturation (2 settings). The resulting 16 combinations were implemented in a virtual reality university classroom. Memory performance was quantified using a psychological task of remembering an auditory word list, and attention was quantified by the reaction time to auditory stimuli. Analyses indicate that memory and attention performance is affected by some of these parameters, so they could be especially critical in the design of this type of space. Results may be of interest to different agents involved in the university classroom project, from architects and designers to the political leaders of these institutions.