Using the Gap Paradigm to Observe Visual Affinity for Color

Various factors often determine one’s visual attentiveness at a given time, but surrounding colors have proven to impact attentiveness significantly. Even if the color cues only result in a temporary positive attachment from the viewer, the visual and emotional effects can still be profound. This study focused on the attention span and engagement of participants through a technique called the gap paradigm, used to observe color cues that promoted or deterred participants' attention spans. Observations after 4 individual experiments with varying color stimuli helped researchers conclude that the participants were capable of associating certain color cues with positive embracement as well as negative repulsion.

The gap paradigm technique of this experiment was crucial in observing trends in visual disengagement amongst participants. Researchers noted that on average, color stimuli associated with any positive attachment in participants prompted a quick change in visual attention; participants were either slower to look at color cues with less value or faster to look away from these cues once prompted. However, this study did not specifically factor in attentional disengagement in the measured reaction time for participants. Additionally, there is still plenty to be studied with regard to color stimuli resulting in rapid disengagement or a shift in attention. Studying reaction-time trends with attentional disengagement could be an addition to further iterations of this study. 

This study showed a significant decreasing trend in reaction time as participants viewed color stimuli with less personal meaning. Proportionally, color stimuli with a positive personal affinity for participants resulted in slower reaction-time responses. This initial study supports the idea the theory that humans tend to have an increased affinity for items/ideas that have personal meaning, explaining the increased duration participants spent viewing positive color stimuli. Furthermore, this result plays into the idea that the human mind sometimes tricks itself into thinking an object has more meaning, purely based on an initial judgment of color cues. 

Author: Abhinav Katyal 

Reference: Zhuang R, Tu Y, Wang X, Ren Y, Abrams RA. Contributions of gains and losses to attentional capture and disengagement: evidence from the gap paradigm. Experimental Brain Research. 2021;239(11):3381-3395. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06210-9