The Effect of Color on the Size-weight Illusion

The purpose of this experiment is to combine the idea of the size-weight illusion with how color effects the weight of the objects being used. Psychologists Flanagan and Beltzer (2000) viewed the size of the objects and how others perceived the object's weight. The size-weight illusion comes with two objects that have the same weight but differing sizes. Subjects perceived the larger object as lighter than the smaller objects. Payne (1957) found that colors seem to have an effect on how people perceive the weights of the objects. Plack (1975) found the opposite. His findings state that four year old children do not perceive weight as a function of color. These different studies shown above are going to be combined to test if color has an effect on a subject's perception of the weight of an object.

Methods
The subjects of this experiment consist of 25 college students between the ages of 18 and 22. The materials used for the experiment were 6 small plastic cups, 6 medium plastic cups, and 6 large plastic cups. The cups were filled with rocks, marbles, and coins, in order to obtain the desired mass of each cup. One cup of each size was made a different mass. The masses consisted of 47.5 grams, 97.4 grams, 148.5 grams, 295 grams, 398.7 grams, and 470 grams. Each medium and large cup was also constructed to each of these masses respectively. Once the cups were filled to reach their specific mass, they were each covered with a different color paper. The colors of the paper used were white, black, and of hues 5RP, 7.5R, 7.5B, and 10PB according to Munsell's book of color. Each had the same amounts of saturation and brightness. Hue was the only difference between colors. Each of the 6 colors was used to cover the six small cups. The same six colors were used to cover each of the medium cups as well as the large cups. Once all of the cups were ready for the experiment they were taken into a lab room to begin the experiment.

The small and large cups were first set up in sets of 2. Each of the small cups that was the same weight as the large cup, were paired together. Each set of cups was places on a wooden table. The colors that were paired together were as follows: small-white, large-black; small-black, large white; small-blue, large-orange; small-orange, large-blue; small-pink, large-purple; small-purple, large-pink. Each subject was brought into the room separately. The subject was presented each pair of cups separately and was first asked to predict which they think might be heavier by just looking at them. The subject then lifted the cups simultaneously and was to state which one had a greater mass. The subject repeated this for each of the remaining five pairs of cups. This concluded the use of the small and large cups paired together. During the second set of trials, the same procedure was used for the medium and large sized cups.

The final part of the experiment was presented to ten of the 25 subjects. A small and medium cups of the same color were placed in front of each subject.  Pairs of cups of each of the six colors were used. First the subject was asked to predict which cup they thought looked heavier. The subject then lifted the two cups simultaneously and was asked to state which of the two was heavier. Each of these procedures was then repeated for the 24 remaining subjects.

Results
The data collected from this experiment for most of the subjects was that between the smaller and larger cups, subjects tended to choose the smaller cup as being heavier regardless of the color. In the medium and large group, the results were extremely varied. Some subjects chose the medium cup to be heavier, while others decided that the larger cup was heavier. The predictions that the subjects made for which cup they thought might be heavier were varied. This was a way of seeing what color people thought to look heavier. When the small and large cups were presented, although most chose the smaller of the cups to be heavier, there were exceptions. The data from this section can be found in Figures 1-4.

Figure 1. Predicting the Heavier Cup Between Small and Large


Figure 2. Number of Large Cups Chosen as Heavier After Lifting Between Small and Large


Figure 3. Predicting the Heavier Cup between Medium and Large Cups


Figure 4. Actual Number of Large Cups Chosen as Being Heavier after Lifting

Discussion
The results of this study do not support the idea that color has an effect on the size-weight illusion. Although some subjects concluded that the larger cup was heavier, the majority of results show that the smaller cups was chosen as heavier. According to the size-weight illusion, people tend to think that a smaller object is heavier than a larger object of the same weight. Color, therefore, did not change the perceptions of the subjects in general.

The reason for presenting two different sets of sizes of cups, was to see if this made a difference in a person's perception of weight and color. When the small and large cups were presented, there was a more consistent tendency for people to choose the smaller of the two cups as heavier. When the medium and large cups were presented together, however, the results were extremely varied. This shows that when there is a major difference in size between cups, there is more of a chance for the smaller of the two to be perceived as heavier.

It is possible that the color had some effect when the cups were closer in size, but the data was not extremely supportive of this. The results were not entirely consistent. Results showed, however, that the orange color (7.5R) was decided on as being heavier than the blue color (7.5) much more than any of the other sets of colors for the medium and large set of cups. The black cups in the medium and large set were also seen as heavier than the white cups quite often. The amount of large cups chosen as heavier for the small and large cups was very insignificant, so no color patterns were found.

The purpose in presenting two cups of the same weight and same color, but different size was to have a control group. This part of the experiment, as well, did not contain much consistency. For most of the trials, the smaller cup was perceived as being heaviest, supporting the size-weight illusion. Orange and Blue showed the larger cup as being heavier more often than the other colors used. The predictions made by each subject showed a high tendency for black to be considered heavier than white. As for the other colors, the results were too varied to come to any conclusions.

In conclusion, the experiment did now show consistency in its results. No conclusions were made, therefore, concerning the effect of color on the size-weight illusion. 

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