sensory science

Choi, Chang, Lee, and Chang investigated how color can influence assessments.  They found via “experiments and field surveys in the USA and South Korea. . . .  that an anonymous person against a warm color background (vs. neutral and cold color background) is perceived to be one with warmer personality.”  Also, “nurses’ perception of warmth from a hospital’s ambient color affects their favorable judgment of the hospital and intention to take on an extra role.”

Urban trees have an important effect on how weather is experienced.  Researchers from the University of British Columbia have found that “Even a single urban tree can help moderate wind speeds and keep pedestrians comfortable as they walk down the street, according to a new . . . study that also found losing a single tree can increase wind pressure on nearby buildings and drive up heating costs. . . . ‘We found that removing all trees can increase wind speed by a factor of two, which would make a noticeable difference to someone walking down the street.

Nielsen and Mullins collected information from hospitalized patients about their preferences for art in healthcare facilities.  The team found that “the presence of coloured visual art in hospitals contributes to health outcomes by improving patients’ wellbeing and satisfaction. . . . . Overall, patients preferred art in brighter colours. . . .  patients experienced more positive memories and emotions if they perceived the colours of the art as brighter. . . .

Hadavi linked how people commute to work and their performance once they get to the office.  She found that “the average level of attentional functioning among those who walk to work or school is significantly higher than that of those who drive or use public transportation (bus or train).”  Hadavi’s research has implications for office site selection decisions, for example.

Recent research confirms that colder objects seem heavier than ones at a neutral temperature.  Dunn and his team share that “It has long been known that a . . . cooled stimulus is perceived as heavier than the same object at a neutral temperature—termed Weber's Phenomenon (WP). In the current study, we re-examined this phenomenon. . . .  In normal condition, when the same forces were applied [when items weighed the same amount], all subjects displayed a clear preference for the cooled tactile stimulus as being heavier than the tactile-only stimulus. . . .