This study investigated the effects of coloured numbers and words on memory of young adult. Nine colours were selected: red, saddle brown, orange, yellow, green, black, blue, dark purple and spicy pink. A set of numbers and of words presented in the selected colour (one at a time) were displayed on an LCD monitor against a white background. In the experiment, observers were asked to memorize the numbers for 5 seconds and the words for 60 seconds. When the numbers or the words disappeared, the observers wrote down the numbers or the words they remembered on the answer sheet after delay times: 0, 20 and 300 seconds. Each observer finished both experimental sets for all nine colours and three delay times. The percentage of numbers or words recalled correctly was calculated from 30 observers. The results of this study showed that numbers presented in high chroma colours tended to increase memorisation, while words should be coloured with low chroma to promote memorisation. Moreover, the use of different coloured characters had a tendency to affect short-term memory (20 seconds of delay time) of young adult. When the delay time increased, the memorisation of numbers decreased and it decreased with the number of digits, while the memorisation of words remained quite consistant.
