Observations and results
Did participants tend to pick their favorite color? Was one M&M color picked much more frequently than the others?

Preferences affect the quick choices we make all the time. What our favorite color is might be no exception. You might have seen participants tend to pick M&M's that matched their favorite color. However, if a participant had chosen a certain color as his or her favorite not because the participant thought it was the most attractive color, but for other reasons such as a personal experience, the participant might not tend to pick M&M's that matched his or her stated favorite. In addition to favorite color, other factors may also affect color selection, such as colors preferred in food, temperature or lighting. What other considerations do you think affect your choices?

More to explore
"Favorite Colors: Color Preferences Determined by Desirability of Objects" from Scientific American
"Color Changing Dots" from Scientific American
Our Sense of Sight: Part 3: Color Vision from Marjorie Murray, at the University of Washington in Seattle
Do Preferences Bias Our Choices? from Science Buddies


This activity brought to you in partnership with Science Buddies

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