THE EFFECT OF COLOR ENHANCEMENT ON KNOWLEDGE MAP PROCESSING

The purpose of this experiment was to examine the effect of knowledge maps and color enhancement on the recall of text information. Although researchers have found both methods to be effective for increasing ac quisition of materials, the two methods have not been combined. Colleg e students studied a 1,500-word text passage on the autonomic nervous system in the form of a knowledge map or traditional text. Within each of these groups, half of the students studied color-enhanced material and half studied black-and-white materials. Although those in the map group recalled more than their traditional text counterparts did for both color-enhanced and black-and-white materials, the effect was not significant. This finding, which is inconsistent with previous researc h, may have been due to subject matter or structural differences in th e maps or to the overwhelming effect of color enhancement. On the othe r hand, consistent with expectations and past research, those who stud ied color-enhanced materials recalled significantly more than those wh o studied black-and-white materials across both map and traditional te xt groups. Thus, it appears that color enhancement can be a powerful t ool for increasing acquisition of textual information presented via a knowledge map or a more traditional format.