HOW COLOR SHAPES OUR LIVES

The social, historical and evolutionary signals of colors

By: Elijah Wolfson

Published: January 29, 2014; The Atlantic; http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/how-color-shapes-our-lives/283376/

Level of difficulty: **

BEFORE YOU READ

Watch the video that shows how Newton arbitrarily named the colors of the rainbow:

“How Newton unwove color” http://vimeo.com/85449519

QUESTIONS

1. Why does Jay Neitz think he can cure color blindness in humans?
2. What is the reason for Andrew Lavigne’s surprising reaction to the suggestion of surgery?
3. What is the function of the paragraph beginning “Humans make all sorts of color choices…”; i.e. why is it there?
4. The realization that has led to a change in attitude towards the science of color is the fact that……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. Read the section titled “Pink is for girls”. What social association may have influenced the reaction of the subjects in Schauss’ experiment?
6. Which of the titles below would not suit the paragraph beginning “It wasn’t until the 1940’s…”?

·         Pink versus Blue;  Girls versus Boys

·         Blame the department stores and marketers

·         Classical conditioning through colors

·         The far reaching influence of two colors

7. The unique place of red as a color in our lives is due to the fact that………………………………..
8. Red may, in fact, operate as a lingua franca in the human mating game because it was observed that………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
9. What conclusion can be drawn from the examples of the stop sign, the teacher’s red pen, the fact that it can create hostility and all you have read about the color red so far?
10.  Based on the text it can be deduced that trichromatic vision is a result of evolution as all species with this capability ………………………………………………………………………………………………
11. The fact that red enabled humans to understand each other had an important and far reaching consequence: ………………………………………………………………………………………………..
12. How do we know that certain experiences of color are very ancient indeed?
13. The fact that the installation of blue lights at Japanese train stations reduces the rate of suicides at train stations proves that this color leads people to……………………………(Use your own words)
14. What does “This” refer to in the phrase “This partially explains…”?
15. The case of the color green and the color blue prove that

·         Such theories sound like urban legends

·         Empirical studies are required for further proof

·         Ultimately, the meaning of color is messy

·         Biology and reactions to color are linked

16. Describe how the last two paragraphs of the text are different from the rest and explain the reason.

WRITING TASK

Make notes on the text according to the Cornell method (See my blog) and write a summary. This summary task is not the easiest in the world as it requires reorganization of the material so take your time and be careful. If you are up for a challenge, write combined summary of this text and “Seeing red”, which is also on this blog.

HOW COLOR SHAPES OUR LIVES KEY AND TEACHER’S NOTES

This reading activity has been designed to complement “Seeing Red”, which is already on the blog under “Level ** reading tasks. Whereas the latter only deals with one color, the former is more general. Ideally, the writing task, a summary activity, should cover both texts.

1. Because he has given monkeys the ability to see red. In other words, he has mastered the technique necessary.
2. The color blindness is part of what makes him, him.
3. It provides support for the previous statement “Color works its effects on us to the extent that even our highest level cognition and intelligence are biased by low level impressions”.
4. Even our highest level cognition and intelligence are biased by these low level impressions.
5. Pink is a girly color OR pink means weakness
6. The second one; it doesn’t relate to the main idea; it only gives the starting point.
7. It may have the strongest hold on the human mind.
8. Red was equally powerful as an attractant in Burkina Faso – where the color carries explicitly negative connotations – as it is in the US.
9. Context is everything,
10. Have bare faces
11. It became a secondary communication tool.
12. Even before living things evolved to experience colors, they had receptors that could recognize the difference between differently colored lights.
13. Relax or calm down; the phrase in the text is “settle down low, essentially sleeping” so the answer we want is that comfortable dozy relaxed feeling.
14. The cells that excited by orange light and calmed by blue light also go to areas of the brain that control mood.
15. The fourth one
16. They are far more general. The last paragraph but one is a restatement and in the next, there are also references to the future. All this means they make up the conclusion.