First Name:
Laura
Last Name:
Rash
Major Department:
Psychology
Thesis Director:
Kenneth Steele
Date of Thesis:
May 2013
Genschow, Reutner, and Wanke (2012) hypothesized that that the color red acts a situational cue, signaling “stop”, and would interfere with snack consumption when compared with other colors. Genschow et al. (2012) reported that participants ate fewer pretzels on red plates than on blue or white plates. This experiment was a replication of Genschow et al. (2012). Participants were told they were to engage in a taste discrimination task and sampled pretzels from either red, white, or blue plates. If the color red signaled as a “stop” cue, fewer pretzels should be consumed on the red plates. The results showed no significant difference among the three colors. Failure to replicate the results of Genschow et al. (2012) questions the original finding. Possible reasons for this lack of replication are discussed.
Keywords: color, taste discrimination, avoidance motivation