I recently finished reading Drunk Tank Pink: the subconscious forces that shape how we think, feel and behave by Adam Alter.

It’s been fascinating to see how much we are influenced by things you think would have no impact and how profound some of those influences are.

Here are my highlighted notes from this book:

On talking about the influence a name has on a person and their occupations:

Every person who gets a traditional name is automatically linked to his historic background.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Location 151). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Sometimes they borrow names from historical or literary heroes, sometimes they perpetuate ancestral naming traditions, and sometimes they just like how a name sounds or the fact that it reminds them of something appealing. In all cases, though, the otherwise meaningless name acquires meaning because it’s associated with other concepts that are themselves meaningful.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 153-155). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

On the naming of colours:

This elegant experiment shows that colour labels shape how people see the world of colour. The Russian and English students had the same mental architecture— the same ability to perceive and process the colours in front of them— but the Russians had the distinct advantage of two labels where the English students had just one. This example is striking, because it shows that even our perception of basic properties of the world, such as colour, is malleable in the hands of labels.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 424-427). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

The Hannah study showed that people are suggestible, willing to view the world with the guidance of labels when faced with an otherwise unbreakable tie.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 498-499). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

On focus:

Priming people with religious symbols has paradoxical consequences, because they tend to perceive themselves as relatively immoral beings while simultaneously behaving more honestly.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 1019-1020). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Just as Chinese people are more likely than Americans to focus on objects rather than their backgrounds, so they also believe that people are overlapping entities who relate to the other people in their lives.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 1843-1844). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Instead of consciously processing the colour of every object, the nature of every room, and the temperature as it changes across time, we wisely conserve our limited mental resources for complex tasks that demand focused attention.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2191-2193). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

On the effect of light on humans:

Officials hired a team of Glaswegian contractors to beautify the city by installing a series of blue lights in various prominent locations. In theory, blue lights are more attractive and calming than the garish yellow and white lights that illuminate much of the city at night, and indeed the blue lights seemed to cast a soothing, ethereal glow. Months passed and the city’s crime statisticians noticed a striking trend: the locations that were newly bathed in blue experienced a dramatic decline in criminal activity. Just as the West Midlands police force clamped down on crime with billboards depicting human eyes, the blue lights in Glasgow, which mimicked the lights on the top of police cars, seemed to imply that the police were always watching. The lights were never designed to stem crime, but that’s exactly what they appeared to be doing.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2201-2207). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

The police force in Nara Prefecture, Japan installed a series of 152 blue lights at several crime hotspots. The crime rate fell by an impressive 9 percent, but the blue lights had other, unanticipated benefits: the suicide attempts that plagued Japanese train stations and crossings ceased altogether—not a single attempt was reported along the Central and West Japan Railway Company lines between 2006 and 2008. Even littering and rubbish dumping seemed to decline in blue-lit areas, and blue lights were hailed as a panacea for several of society’s most stubborn ills.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2208-2212). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

suggested replacing standard lights at gang hangouts with the pinkish lights that dermatologists use to inspect teenage skin for acne. What better way to encourage teen gang members to disperse than to emphasize their flawed complexions?

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2212-2214). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

suggested an inexpensive, novel remedy: exposure to blue-green

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2223-2226). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

researchers purchased a series of special lights that bathed the night-shift workers in a blue-green glow as they worked. When the shift ended the following morning, the workers wore special amber glasses to block out all blue and green light, thereby confusing their bodies into believing that they were working during the day and leaving work at night. The effects were remarkable. By the fourth day of the trial most of the workers felt more alert , as their error rate declined from 5 percent to just 1 percent.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2226-2229). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

People who suffer from SAD tend to become depressed and listless for long periods during the winter, which also explains in large part why the disorder affects only 1 percent of Floridians but 10 percent of New Hampshirites.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2231-2232). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

On colour and health:

In contrast, the subject matter of colour science is vivid and ubiquitous, and even novices have basic theories about the role of colours in human psychology. As pioneering colour scientist Kurt Goldstein noted during a speech in the early 1940s, “That colours influence organic life does not need special proof. Looking around at the colourfulness of all living things, one becomes immediately aware of this fact.”

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2240-2243). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

They claimed that magenta briefly sedated disturbed patients, blue had a similar but longer-lasting effect, and yellow and red stimulated depressed and melancholy patients. The observations were fascinating, but they weren’t supported by rigorous experimental testing.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2245-2247). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

in the mid-1940s, two army surgeons introduced Auroratone films, a new method of colour

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2247-2250). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Something about the films was working, but no one ever bothered to check whether it was the colour palette, the way the colours swirled on the screen, whether the films would have been just as effective in black and white, or even whether the music was the major factor. Eventually Auroratone went the way of so many other faddish therapies and fell out of favour.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2260-2263). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Deutsch responded by placing the patient in a red room for four brief treatment sessions. After one session, her pulse dropped from 112 to 80 beats per minute. After four sessions, her pulse rate dropped to 74, and remained there long after the session ended. She explained that the red room had produced a warming sensation, alleviating the sense of choking that had plagued her for days.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2265-2268). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

another patient arrived with dangerously high blood pressure. This patient spent time in a green room rather than a red room, and her results were just as miraculous. After seven sessions, her blood pressure had fallen from 250/ 130 to a still unhealthy but no longer critical 180/ 110 (a normal reading is 120/ 80). While the warmth of red comforted one patient, the coolness of green comforted another, and failing to run meticulous tests, Deutsch was never able to explain why two apparently opposing colours had the same therapeutic effects.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2268-2272). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

According to today’s colour psychologists , colours play a powerful role in human decision-making for two reasons. The first reason is that colours affect us physically, as the sawmill workers showed when their body clocks adapted better to shift changes under blue rather than white or yellow light. The second reason is that we associate colours with almost every imaginable pleasant and unpleasant object that populates our planet, which might explain why crime rates declined in Japan and Scotland when

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2279-2283). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

They recruited nearly a hundred people to participate in an experiment, half of whom were nearby university students— the “normal” group— and half of whom were schizophrenic patients from a nearby state hospital. Each group conducted a series of tests while bathed in both white and red light, and the experimenters measured the difference in their performance under the two colours of light. One of the tests was a thirty-second tremor test, in which the experimenters measured whether the participants’ hands were shaking while they tried to remain completely still. Both groups shook more vigorously under the red light, but the effect was especially pronounced among a small group of the schizophrenics. Some of them shook uncontrollably, complaining that their hearts were racing, and that they felt “shocked” by the light. Others complained that they felt sick to their stomachs, and another muttered that “part of my brain, heart, and kidneys were right with God at times but not under this light”. The experience obviously frightened many of them, a few jerking in surprise and another urinating uncontrollably when the room was first bathed in red. A second study showed similar results among “normal” males who were exposed to red light but not blue light, suggesting that it wasn’t merely the strangeness of non-white light that produced erratic responses.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2294-2304). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

While red environments elevate blood flow and nervous-system responses inside our bodies , they also appear to change how we see the world looking outward. One researcher described how a woman suffering from cerebellar disease struggled to walk upright. According to early observations, her gait was unsteady, she wobbled when she walked, and sometimes she became dizzy and fell over without the aid of a wall or another person. Sometimes her dizziness was debilitating, and at other times it wasn’t as acute, enabling her to walk with relatively little difficulty. With the help of her physician, she came to realize that she was especially dizzy when she wore red dresses. When she wore green or blue, she was calmer and her symptoms subsided.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2307-2312). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

the colour red was a genuine physical menace. Red similarly throws off physical judgement even in people without existing medical disorders. People appear to write more erratically in red light than in green light, and their writing becomes less coherent when they write with red ink rather than blue, black, or green ink. When asked to estimate the length and weight of sticks and other objects, people are far more accurate under green than red light. They tend to suffer from macropsia and micropsia— the illusion that objects are larger or smaller than they actually are.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2313-2317). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

On responses to colour:

The same red that agitates people in a scientific laboratory also agitates them when they load web pages with red backgrounds. In one series of experiments, people felt more agitated while waiting for a red or yellow web page to load than when the same page had a blue background. This agitation made them impatient, so they believed that the yellow and red pages took longer to load than the blue page did, though both pages loaded at the same speed. Later they also claimed that they would be less likely to recommend the site to a friend.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2318-2321). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

sometimes the most striking insights come from simple verbal responses. For decades, researchers have asked test subjects why they responded so intensely to the colour red, and dozens have replied that it disturbs them because it reminds them of blood and, consequently, injury, illness, and even death. Colours are powerful, not just because we respond to them physically but also because they remind us of the objects that embody them— red blood, blue sky, yellow sun, and green grass.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2324-2327). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

With black crayons they almost always drew buildings, cars, and other inanimate objects, very rarely drawing people, animals, or natural scenes. With coloured crayons, they drew people and animals, apparently associating vibrant colours with life.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2334-2335). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

People across the world have very different associations with the same colours, which also suggests that these links are a product of the environment as well as inbuilt biological preferences. Most people across the world favour blue— the so-called blue phenomenon— but that’s also because it’s universally associated with clear skies and calming oceans. The few countries that associate blue primarily with sadness— Hong Kong, for example— also tend to rate it less favourably. People in the United States like black, possibly because they

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2336-2341). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Whether colours influence us physically, or because they prompt us to think of related concepts, they shape our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours across a huge range of contexts.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2343-2344). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Red traffic lights, stop signs, and flashing lights warn motorists to be vigilant, while the same colour red stirs thoughts of romantic passion and affection.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2345-2346). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Blue is the most popular colour in the world, grey and black are associated with dominance and power, green is supposed to be soothing, and red is typically associated with love in popular culture.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2356-2357). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

12– 14 percent of all male motorists stopped when the women wore black, white, yellow, blue, or green, 21 percent stopped when the women wore red shirts. Since only men were swayed by the colour red, the researcher argued that red enhances romantic appeal specifically, rather than platonic attraction more generally.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2361-2363). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

women were far more popular when their shirts were red. During the nine-month period, 14– 16 percent of their emails arrived when they wore the black, white, yellow, blue, and green shirts— but 21 percent arrived when they wore the red shirt.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2369-2371). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

In general, the color red signifies sexuality and attraction, both for biological reasons and because we’ve come to associate red with sexuality in literature and popular culture.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2378-2380). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Humans show similar tendencies, with dominant males across time and cultures wearing distinctive red face paint and garments. The most powerful men of ancient Rome were known as coccinati, literally “the ones who wear red”; they distinguished themselves from the plebs by wearing bright red clothing. Even today VIPs and luminaries strut down a red carpet, while the masses cheer from the grey concrete sidelines.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2383-2386). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

The same photos earned higher attractiveness ratings when their subjects wore red clothing. The results held regardless of whether the student raters were American, English, German, or Chinese, suggesting that the effects weren’t merely driven by a pro-red bias that affects people from some cultures but not others. Furthermore, the men and

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2389-2393). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

in short, red shirts only made people seem more attractive to potential mates. The message here couldn’t be simpler: if you’re trying to attract a member of the opposite sex, red dresses and red shirts give you a slight advantage romantically speaking.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2398-2400). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

people are far more likely to remember pictures of a place presented in colour rather than in black and white, and memory is a critical component of intellectual performance. According to the psychologists who studied the phenomenon, we’re able to bury coloured scenes deeper in our memory, and later to retrieve them more effectively than identical scenes presented in black and white.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2404-2407). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Coloured memories are better retrieved than black-and-white memories, but not all colours have the same effect on intellectual performance. Students learn to fear the presence of red ink on exams and assignments, and some US and Australian states have even banned teachers from correcting academic work with red ink. Experts who prefer black or blue ink argue that red ink has become inextricably linked with failure and criticism, so students are likely to disengage when they’re faced with a page covered in red.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2409-2412). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Although the students read exactly the same essay, those who were given a red pen found an average of twenty-four errors, whereas those who were given a blue pen found an average of only nineteen errors.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2418-2420). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

On average, those who used the red pen gave the essays a score of 76/ 100, whereas those who used the blue pen gave the essays a score of 80/ 100.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2421-2422). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.#

The students who wrote their ID number with a red pen answered an average of 22 percent fewer questions correctly than those who wrote their ID number in black or green pen.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2427-2428). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

students achieved lower scores on several different tests when the first page was red rather than grey, white, or green.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Location 2429). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

these studies suggest that replacing your red pen with a black or green pen, or reprinting the red cover page of an exam in a different colour, has similar effects.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2435-2436). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

It turns out that the colour red activates the right hemisphere of the frontal cortex, a pattern of brain activity that typically indicates avoidance motivation. Avoidance motivation is the technical term for a state in which you’re more concerned with avoiding failure than you are with achieving success. It’s a distracting state of mind that all but guarantees poorer performance when you’re trying to solve questions that require insight and mental effort. Psychologists have also shown that people literally recoil from the colour red, leaning slightly further backward in their seats when they’re about to begin a test with a red rather than green cover. None of these effects occurs consciously, but when they occur together it becomes clear why the colour red can be so damaging in academic contexts.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2437-2442). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

students were far more vigilant when proofreading a text for errors and memorizing a list of words when those tasks were presented against a red background rather than a blue background .

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2445-2446). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

the colour red inspires academic under-achievement, but only when the task doesn’t require vigilance or attention to detail. For those tasks, red enhances rather than impairs performance.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2448-2449). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

It’s hard to escape the irony that the same sporting bodies that seek to eliminate performance-enhancing drugs also require one of the two competitors in each bout to wear a performance-enhancing red uniform.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2465-2467). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

One possibility, which overlaps with the mating advantages of wearing red, is that the colour red is biologically and evolutionarily associated with dominance and aggression. When animals fight, their blood vessels dilate and their faces redden with the flush of physical exertion. Competitors who wear red might, therefore , feel more dominant than competitors who wear blue, and competitors who wear blue might perceive their red-clothed opponents as particularly aggressive or dominant. Since the outcomes of pugilistic events such as boxing and wrestling are decided in part by which competitor is more dominant, aggressive, and psychologically commanding, the outcome is subtly biased in favour of the competitor who wears red.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2469-2474). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

The referees therefore awarded the competitors wearing red more points than they awarded the competitors wearing blue, even when they were judging an identical (but recoloured) performance.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2487-2489). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

people behave more aggressively when they wear black clothing; and referees and onlookers see more aggression in the same actions when they’re committed by people wearing black rather than grey or white clothing.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2497-2499). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Even when two competitors eschew steroids, blood doping, and other illegal performance-enhancing aids, the lucky competitor assigned to wear red is at a distinct advantage. Similarly, teams that wear aggression-inducing black uniforms seem inevitably drawn to the penalty box.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2500-2502). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Red uniforms create an unfair advantage, black uniforms provoke undue aggression, and blue and white uniforms inspire comparatively meek behaviour.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2503-2504). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

children aren’t born innately prejudiced against black people; until the age of four or five years, perhaps once they’ve formed associations between whiteness and virtue and blackness and vice, they tend not to show evidence of anti-black prejudice at all.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2535-2537). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

these results suggest that associations between blackness and immorality might subtly contribute to the ongoing problem of anti-black prejudice.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2538-2539). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Red fosters romance as it signals the flush of attraction, but it also prompts alertness and vigilance in the face of taxing mental tasks. Blue deters would-be criminals from misbehaving, but it also alleviates the symptoms of exhaustion and seasonal depression.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2540-2542). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

red acts as matchmaker because it signals sexual arousal, and blue light halts the production of sleep-inducing melatonin by mimicking the properties of natural sunlight.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2543-2544). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

blue appears to deter crime by invoking the blue lights on a police car, while red promotes vigilance by calling to mind the colour of stop signs and flashing lights on emergency vehicles.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2544-2545). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

On where you live:

These results suggest that high-density living hampers generosity, and other researchers have shown that overcrowding similarly provokes mental illness, drug addiction, alcoholism, family disorganization, and a generally diminished quality of life.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2586-2587). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Overcrowding also creates noise, and researchers have found that the constant hum of everyday life stifles creativity and learning.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2597-2598). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

The difference between natural and urban landscapes is how they command our attention. While man-made landscapes bombard us with stimulation, their natural counterparts give us the chance to think as much or as little as we’d like, and the opportunity to replenish exhausted mental resources.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2663-2665). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

The Japanese version of natural therapy is shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, which requires that patients walk for extended periods through forested areas while inhaling woodsy scents that complement the sylvan atmosphere.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2677-2679). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

People who are exposed to natural scenes aren’t just happier or more comfortable; the very building blocks of their physiological well-being also respond positively to natural therapy. Natural environments promote calmness and well-being in part because they expose people to low levels of stress.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2682-2684). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

in the absence of natural restoration, the human brain copes with this clutter by going into over-drive, briefly scanning the environment more clearly and deeply than it usually does until fatigue forces it to return to a stable state of shallower mental processing .

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2700-2702). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

On the written word:

As expected, people answered the three questions correctly more often when they were difficult to read.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2769-2770). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

confessions were more revealing after the site’s creator adopted the new, fluent format. In other studies, we found that people were more willing to disclose revealing personal flaws when

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2785-2787). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

When the later violations were surprisingly easy to read, the raters interpreted that experience to imply that the violations were less morally offensive.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2807-2808). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

On morality:

students in the dimly lit room were liberated from the moral constraints of behaving honestly, a result that the authors attributed to the illusion that the darkness preserved their anonymity.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2842-2844). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

The drivers adopted the behaviour that seemed most appropriate given their understanding of the area’s prevailing norms.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2863-2864). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

On external influences – such as temperature/weather and seasons:

Perhaps the grandest of all cues in the world around us are the weather conditions that define every moment we spend outdoors. Each time you leave the sheltered indoors, you subject yourself to the whims of the seasons .

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2921-2922). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Beyond sports, road rage also escalates when the temperature rises.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2948-2949). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

One popular explanation is that heat makes people physically excited—their hearts beat more quickly and they sweat more—and they later mistake this sense of excitement for anger when confronted with a frustrating situation.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2956-2957). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Like the overheated baseball players and drivers who confused physical excitement for anger , the fearful men on the rickety bridge mistook the rush of blood and adrenalin for sexual arousal.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2959-2960). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

A second possible explanation is that heat causes discomfort, which in turn conjures related thoughts of anger and aggression.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2960-2961). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

even controlling for the contribution of education levels, wealth, income, religiosity, and many other potential differences between the northern and southern parts of the United States, they find that the south still has higher crime rates. Crime rates also rise during the hotter months of the year within each city, and those escalations are more pronounced during unusually hot summers. These results are true for numerous violent crimes, including homicide, assault, sexual assault, domestic violence, and riots, each of which spikes during June, July, and August and plummets again as the weather cools.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 2990-2994). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Researchers haven’t agreed on why conception rates rise in winter, though they’ve identified several possibilities : people spend more time indoors; men are more likely to seek romance because their testosterone levels rise in winter; men are more attracted to the female figure as they’re exposed to it less often when the weather cools.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3012-3015). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

The sensation of physical warmth alleviated the need for social contact, suggesting that the brain interprets physical and social warmth very similarly

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3052-3053). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

The best romantic comedies place their central character in a cold , affectionless wasteland, before redeeming him (or, increasingly often, her) with a warm, new-found love interest . Since romantic comedies are designed to warm a frigid heart, in two experiments people who were handed a cup of iced coffee, or a cold therapeutic pack (rather than a cup of hot coffee or a heated therapeutic pack) were willing to pay an average of 20 percent more to see a romantic comedy film. They weren’t willing to pay more for action films, comedies, or thrillers, presumably because those films lacked the heart-warming promise of romantic comedies.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3060-3064). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Across the ages, these summer highs and winter lows have been especially pronounced among artists, writers, and intellectuals. Vincent Van Gogh swung wildly between his famous periods of wintertime melancholy and extreme periods of summertime elation.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3089-3091). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Van Gogh’s artworks were similarly swayed by the seasons, dominated by ominous clouds and darkness in the winter months, and optimistic sunshine, light, and stars during the summer months. His aggressive brushstrokes, loaded with mounds of paint, became more frenzied in the winter months and lost some of their intensity when summer arrived.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3094-3096). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

The researchers explained that gloomy weather hampers our mood, which in turn makes us think more deeply and clearly. Humans are biologically predisposed to avoid sadness, and they respond to sad moods by seeking opportunities for mood repair and vigilantly protecting themselves against whatever might be making them sad. In contrast, happiness sends a signal that everything is fine, the environment doesn’t pose an imminent threat , and there’s no need to think deeply and carefully.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3151-3155). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

The day after daylight saving time begins, thousands of drivers labour under a regional case of jet lag, and accident rates rise by 7 percent on that day.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3178-3179). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

Bibliography of interest from this book:

157 Blue streetlights prevent crime and discourage suicide: Yomiuri Shimbun (11 December 2008). Blue streetlights believed to prevent suicides, street crime. Seattle Times available at http:// seattletimes.nwsource.com/ html/ nationworld/ 2008494010_bluelight11. html

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3592-3594). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

158 Blue lights help sawmill workers: Sasseville, A., and Hebert, M. (2010). Using blue-green light at night and blue-blockers during the day to improve adaptation to night work: A pilot study. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry, 34, 1236–1242.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3595-3597). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

160 Kurt Goldstein’s early work in colour science: Goldstein, K. (1942). Some experimental observations concerning the influence of colors on the function of the organism. Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation, 21, 147– 151; Birren, F. (1978). Color psychology and color therapy. New York: Citadel.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3597-3599). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

160 Auroratone therapy: Rubin, H. E., and Katz, E. (1946). Auroratone films for the treatment of psychotic depressions in an army general hospital. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 2, 333– 340. Restored snippet from an Auroratone film available at http:// http://www.youtube.com/ watch? v = uFXku4MntpY

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3600-3602). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

161 Felix Deutsch’s tachycardiac patient: Deutsch, F. (1937). Psycho-physical reactions of the vascular system to influence of light and to impression gained through light. Folia Clinica Orientalia, Vol. I, No. 3– 4.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3602-3604). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

162 The Hawthorne effect as an alternative explanation : Roethlisberger, F. J., and Dickson, W. J. (1939). Management and the worker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3604-3606). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

163 Red and colour shock: James , W. T., and Domingos, W. R. (1953). The effect of color shock on motor performance and tremor. Journal of General Psychology, 48, 187– 193; Gerard, R. M. (1958). Color and emotional arousal. American Psychologist, 13, 340.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3606-3608). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

164 Cerebellar disease: Goldstein, K. (1942). Some experimental observations concerning the influence of colors on the function of the organism. Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation, 21 , 147– 51; Birren, F. (1978 ). Color psychology and color therapy. New York: Citadel.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3608-3610). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

166 How Japanese students use crayons: Imada , M. (1926). Color preferences of school children. Japanese Journal of Psychology, 1, 1– 21.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3611-3612). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

166 Colour preferences across countries: Madden, T. J., Hewett, K., and Roth, M. S. (2000). Managing images in different cultures: A cross-national study of color meanings and preferences. Journal of International Marketing, 8, 90– 107; Palmer, S. E., and Schloss, K. B. (2010). An ecological valence theory of human color preference. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, 8877– 8882; Miller, E. G., and Kahn, B. E . (2005). Shades of meaning: The effect of color and flavor names on consumer choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 32, 86– 92.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3612-3616). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

167 Female hitchhikers appeal to male drivers when they wear red: Guéguen, N. (2010). Color and women hitchhikers’ attractiveness: Gentlemen drivers prefer red. Color: Research and Application, 37, 76– 78.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3619-3620). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

168 French women and T-shirt colour on dating profiles: Guéguen, N., and Jacob, C. (2012). Color and cyber-attractiveness: Red enhances men’s attraction to women’s internet personal ads. Color: Research and Application, to be published.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3621-3623). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

168 Biology behind the appeal of red, and studies showing red appeals: Kayser , D. N ., Elliot, A. J., and Feltman, R. (2010 ). Red and romantic behavior in men viewing women. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 901– 908; Elliot, A. J., and Niesta, D. (2008). Romantic red: Red enhances men’s attraction to women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95 , 1150 –1164; Elliot, A. J., Kayser, D. N., Greitmeyer, T., Lichtenfeld, S., Gramzow, R . H., Maier, M. A., and Liu, H. (2008). Red, rank, and romance in women viewing men. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 139, 399– 417. Another explanation for this effect, proposed by Adam Pazda and his colleagues, is that men perceive red-clad women as more sexually receptive: Pazda, A. D., Elliot, A. J., and Greitmeyer, T. (2012). Sexy red: Perceived sexual receptivity mediates the red-attraction relation in men viewing women. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 787– 790 ; Elliot, A. J., and Pazda, A. D. (2012). Dressed for sex: Red as a female sexual signal in humans. PLoS ONE, 7, e34607.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3623-3631). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

170 Colour scenes are more memorable: Spence , I., Wong, P., Rusan, M., and Rastegar, N. (2006). How color enhances visual memory for natural scenes. Psychological Science, 17, 1– 6.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3631-3632). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

171 Red pen banned in Queensland: ABC News article, available at http:// http://www.abc.net.au/ news/ 2008-12-03/ qld-govt-slams-tasteless-red-pen-debate/ 228210 .

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3633-3634). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

171 More mistakes found when examiners use red pen: Rutchick, A. M., Slepian, M. L., and Ferris, B. D. (2010). The pen is mightier than the word: Object priming of evaluative standards. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 704– 708.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3635-3636). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

172 Red pen hampers intellectual performance: Elliot, A. J., Maier, M. A., Moller, A . C., Friedman, R., and Meinhardt, J. (2007). Color and psychological functioning: The effect of red on performance attainment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 154– 168; Elliot, A. J., and Maier, M. A. (2007). Color and psychological functioning. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 250– 254; Elliot, A. J ., Maier, M. A., Binser, M . J., Friedman , R., and Pekrun, R. (2009). The effect of red on avoidance behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 365– 375.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3637-3641). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

173 Red is better for vigilance; blue for creativity: Mehta, R., and Zhu, R. J. (2009). Blue or red? Exploring the effect of color on cognitive task performances. Science, 323, 1226–1229.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3641-3643). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

174 Olympians do better in red than in blue: Hill, R. A., and Barton, R. A. (2005). Red enhances human performance in contests. Nature, 435, 293.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3643-3644). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

175 Referees award more points to red-clad competitors: Hagemann, N., Strauss, B., and Leissing, J. (2008). When the referee sees red. Psychological Science, 19, 769– 771.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3645-3646). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

176 Teams with black uniforms are more aggressive: Frank, M. G., and Gilovich , T. (1988). The dark side of self-and social perception: Black uniforms and aggression in professional sports. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1988, 54, 74– 85.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3646-3648). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

177 Black is associated with immorality; white with morality:

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3648-3650). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

186 Nature improves recovery after surgery: Ulrich, R. S. (1984). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science, 224, 420– 421.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3662-3663). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

187 Nature dampens the effects of stress: Wells, N. M., and Evans, G. W. (2003). Nearby nature: A buffer of life stress among rural children. Environment and Behavior, 35, 311– 330; Louv, R. (2008). Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. New York: Algonquin.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3663-3665). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.

187 Nature calms children with ADD: Taylor, A. F., Kuo, F. E., and Sullivan, W. C. (2001). Coping with ADD: The surprising connection to green play settings. Environment and Behavior, 33, 54– 77.

Alter, Adam (2013-09-05). Drunk Tank Pink (Kindle Locations 3666-3667). Oneworld Publications. Kindle Edition.