There is no universally agreed upon model of the mind, and no universally agreed upon model of how memory works. Nevertheless, Schacter (1996) believed that a good model for how memory works must be consistent with the subjective nature of consciousness and with what is known from scientific studies. In basic psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and subsequently retrieve information. Many psychologists have studied the effects of memory, but few on the aspect of color.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether color increased the short-term memorization of objects as compared to black and white by two groups of participants. Sixty individuals were chosen at random, and placed into two groups. One group was presented with a color picture, whereas the other group was presented with the same picture, except in black and white. The subjects were asked to attempt to find the objects in the picture and remember them, so that they could recall them after a distracter task was introduced.

The results showed a difference in scores between the participants who were given a colored image, compared to the participants who were given the black and white image. The participants who were given the colored image scored significantly higher which agreed with the primary hypothesis that was being investigated. The investigator also hypothesized that both younger participants and females would score higher on the memory test. Contrary to prediction, neither females nor younger participants were found to score significantly higher than males and older participants on the memory test.