Bias: Motor Control and Favorite Color
Abstract
What is your favorite color and why? Do you think that simple tasks might be biased by your preferences? Find out in this science project if your color preferences will bias your fine motor skills when doing quick, repetitive tasks.
Objective
In this science project you will test whether color preference will affect repetitive tasks that require fine motor coordination, like picking up small objects very quickly.
Do Preferences Bias Our Choices?
Introduction
What does it mean to have a favorite color? It may be something that you choose for no good reason, other than the fact that you like it. You may have some kind of emotional reason for choosing a certain color. Can color preference have biological origins?
When we see a color, it is interpreted in our brain by the visual cortex, where different groups of neurons are stimulated. The differential stimulation of neurons within the visual cortex might lead to color preferences. Do these preferences affect other brain functions, like our behavior?
Our brains also coordinate the movements of our muscles. This occurs in the motor cortex of the brain. If you play sports or video games, you know that one helpful skill is hand-eye coordination. This means that the different regions of your brain function well together, allowing you to be well-coordinated. When you catch a fast-moving ball, your eyes tell the brain where the ball is, and then the brain tells your arm and hand to catch it.
If these two areas of the brain can coordinate complex movements and behaviors, then what other sensory responses can influence our behavior? In this science project, you will test how color can affect hand-eye coordination. You will ask participants to quickly choose different-colored M&M candies from a bowl. Will their choices reveal their color preferences?
Terms and Concepts
To do this type of science project, you should know what the following terms mean. Have an adult help you search the Internet or
What is your favorite color and why? Do you think that simple tasks might be biased by your preferences? Find out in this science project if your color preferences will bias your fine motor skills when doing quick, repetitive tasks.
Objective
In this science project you will test whether color preference will affect repetitive tasks that require fine motor coordination, like picking up small objects very quickly.
Do Preferences Bias Our Choices?
Introduction
What does it mean to have a favorite color? It may be something that you choose for no good reason, other than the fact that you like it. You may have some kind of emotional reason for choosing a certain color. Can color preference have biological origins?
When we see a color, it is interpreted in our brain by the visual cortex, where different groups of neurons are stimulated. The differential stimulation of neurons within the visual cortex might lead to color preferences. Do these preferences affect other brain functions, like our behavior?
Our brains also coordinate the movements of our muscles. This occurs in the motor cortex of the brain. If you play sports or video games, you know that one helpful skill is hand-eye coordination. This means that the different regions of your brain function well together, allowing you to be well-coordinated. When you catch a fast-moving ball, your eyes tell the brain where the ball is, and then the brain tells your arm and hand to catch it.
If these two areas of the brain can coordinate complex movements and behaviors, then what other sensory responses can influence our behavior? In this science project, you will test how color can affect hand-eye coordination. You will ask participants to quickly choose different-colored M&M candies from a bowl. Will their choices reveal their color preferences?
Terms and Concepts
To do this type of science project, you should know what the following terms mean. Have an adult help you search the Internet or