Abstract: Choi et al.(2014) introduced a new model of cognition load in which added factors of the physical learning environment except for task characteristics and learner characteristics. The physical learning environment referred to the whole range of physical properties of a place where teaching and learning took place, including physical characteristics of learning materials, tools, or natural spaces, etc. However, until now, researchers had paid very little attention to the effects of the physical learning environment on cognitive load and learning. Color, a basic of human perception and an important part of the physical learning environment, had intrigued many researchers to study its impact on cognition and behavior. Conflicting results had been found as to whether warm versus cool colors enhance cognitive task performance. The main purpose of the study was to explore the influence of the background color of learning materials and type of task on cognition load and learning performance for their importance to instruction design. The study used a 2×2 mixed design with between-subjects factor being type of background color (red verse blue) and within-subjects factor being type of task ( the memory test task verse the creative task). A sample of 80 participants who was randomly selected from 612 students of 10 parallel classes in a middle school volunteered to participate in the study. Their ages ranged from 15 to 17 years and all were right-handed. No participants were reported to have got color blindness or color weakness. The memory test task was asked to recall as many words as they could within 90 sec after they had studied a list of 40 neutral Chinese words for 2 min. The creative task was asked to generate as many creative uses for a piece of newspaper as they could think within 90 sec. They were both presented on Lenovo computers with red or blue background. The experimental program was designed by E-prime 2.0 psychology software so as to control the presentation time of experiment materials and measure the time of task completion. The participants were required to assess their cognitive load with the Paas Scale after they had completed a type of task. The entire experiment lasted about 25 min. The hypotheses were testified on the whole. Though the main effect of background color of learning materials on cognition load was not remarkable, there existed an interaction effect of background color and type of task on it. In solving creative problems, background color had significant effects on cognition load, and cognition load induced by warm colors (e.g., red) was higher than that induced by cool colors (e.g., blue). On the other hand, background color had also a significant impact on learning performance. Compared with cool colors (e.g., blue), warm colors (e.g., red) enhanced learning performance on memory test tasks. Simultaneously, cool colors (e.g., blue) facilitated learning performance on creative problems. On some extent, the study verified the revised model of cognition load proposed by Choi et al. (2014) by taking the background color of learning materials, one of physical leaning environment, as an example.

Key words: cognitive load, physical learning environment, background color, task performance

摘要： 本研究采用2×2的多因素混合实验设计，探讨了物理学习环境之一的学习材料背景颜色对认知负荷及学习的影响。结果发现：（1）背景颜色在对认知负荷的影响上与任务类型产生交互作用，在解决创造性问题时，暖色调（如红色）背景下的认知负荷显著高于冷色调（如蓝色）。（2）从学习成绩上看，暖色调（如红色）更有利于记忆测试问题的解决，冷色调（如蓝色）更有利于创造性问题的解决。（3）认知负荷与任务绩效呈一定程度相关。

关键词: 认知负荷, 物理学习环境, 背景颜色, 任务绩效