Red and threat : influences of colour on motor performance during bimanual tasks

The present study was designed to investigate the influence of the colours red and green on participant's performance of both unimanual and bimanual motor tasks. Three hypotheses were proposed; these predicted that reaction time would be decreased and maximal force output would be increased when tasks were completed in the presence of the colour red ‚Äö- as compared to green, and when tasks were completed unimanually ‚Äö- as compared to bimanually; lastly it was proposed that the two colours would differentially affect the strength of the bimanual deficit. Participants (12 female, 8 male) were aged between 18 and 45 years; free of any colour vision deficiencies, or motor issues; and self-reported to be right hand dominant. Participants completed the Purdue pegboard, used as a measure of manual dexterity, and a pinchgrip task, used as a measure of reaction time and maximal force output. Results indicated that movement type (uni- vs bi-manual) significantly influenced participant performance for the pegboard, but not for the pinchgrip task. In contrast, colour (red vs green) significantly influenced reaction time for the pinchgrip task, but did not affect any further variables. Overall, the present study did not provide conclusive evidence to support the proffered hypotheses.