Guest Teacher Blogger – Winner of the 2012 Sopris Learning Blog Contest!
By Michelle George
I was driving across state awhile ago, tuned in to International Public Radio (IPR). I tend to get sleepy on long drives, and talk radio keeps my brain working and my eyes open. I was listening to a fascinating program from radiolab.org. The hosts were talking about some quirky research findings documented in the book Drunk Tank Pink by Adam Alter.
Alter chronicles a wide range of research that illustrates ways our environment exerts powerful influence on our minds and our daily lives. All the while, I kept thinking, “Wow, I could so use this in my teaching practice.” Ultimately, what our students don’t know might really help us reach them in some surprising ways.
As soon as I got home, I went online and ordered the book. I’m not usually a big fan of nonfiction, but this book is fun stuff! Just to get you interested, I’m going to highlight a bit of what Alter reveals about the influence of color on behavior.
One series of teaching-related studies was done on the use of red ink. The researchers had two groups of undergrads correct a fabricated essay with deliberate errors. Even though they all had the same essay, those using red pens found an average of 24% more errors that the banal blue correctors.
In a follow-up study, two groups of undergrads corrected another essay. They all read the exact same essay, but one group of undergrads had blue ink pens, the other red. The red adjudicators gave the essays, on average, a 76/100, whereas the more mellow blue scorers gave the essays an average score of 80/100. As teachers and students, we can all recognize the daunting difference between a “C” and a “B.”
The influence doesn’t stop there. Maybe those cardinal scorers were more accurate, after all, and that’s good, right?
Another series of studies suggests that red ink can actually cause students to perform more poorly. In one series of studies, subjects answered on test sheets where only the subjects’ ID numbers were in color. The researchers randomly colored them red, black, green, gray, and white. The subjects were asked to unscramble anagrams. Subjects with red ID numbers averaged 22 fewer correct answers. The researchers also tried changing the color of the cover of test booklets. Subjects were asked to solve a variety of number-string questions and analogies. The red-cover subjects solved 18 percent fewer number puzzles and 37 percent fewer analogy questions.
I told you this stuff is intriguing. Now I can almost hear some of you saying, “Yeah, but …” and, of course, you’re right. Correlations like this are not necessarily causal. But what if they are? What if by simply avoiding the use of red in testing and evaluations, we can help students be more successful? Those researchers hypothesized that the results are due to the fact that, “The color red activates the right hemisphere of the frontal cortex.” That area of the brain is connected with failure avoidance. Theoretically, students subliminally choose to risk less and not try as hard when red is present. What would it hurt if we simply chose not to wield a bloody pen? More importantly, what could we gain?
Another interesting color study tidbit comes from a 1979 study, in which Professor Alexander Schauss had 153 healthy young men stare at colored cardboard and then tested their strength. They had two groups who looked at either a deep blue color or a bright pink color. Surprisingly, all but two of the men were markedly weaker after looking at the pink cardboard. How weird is that? Professor Schauss tested the theory again with a group of 38 men, having them squeeze a measurement device this time. All of the subjects were weaker after being exposed to pink.
In Drunk Tank Pink, Alter also reports that United Way charity workers receive two to three times more donations when sporting bright pink uniforms. And violent drunks seem to mellow when exposed to pink holding cells—hence the book’s title.
I teach English to seventh graders, and around 2 p.m., a little dose of calm is a greatly desired effect. So I took a leap of faith in the science of the mind and changed all of my students’ computer screen backgrounds to—you guessed it—drunk tank pink. I shared the research with them, and I’m currently charting the level of chaos since the change.
I can’t say with any confidence that my students are drastically sedated since the pink, but it does soothe my heart to look out and see those sweet faces bathed in a rosy glow. Maybe I’m the one who needed a good dose of drunk tank pink.
Alter, Adam. (2012). Drunk tank pink: And other unexpected forces that shape how we think, feel, and behave. New York: The Penguin Press.
Michelle S. George is a language arts middle school teacher in Orofino, Idaho. She has a B.A. in English and secondary certification in English, reading, and journalism. Michelle has been teaching seventh and eighth grade for 20 years, and still loves going to school—as a teacher and a student. She has published a variety of lesson plans and written several award-winning grants.
