An Interesting Social Experiment Regarding Camouflage and the Perception of Colors

 

An Interesting Social Experiment Regarding Camouflage and the Perception of Colors

I'll start off by stating, I'm not a human behavioural scientist. However, as a neuroscientist and just a curious person by nature, I thought I might try a little experiment which would last for at least a year, which would look at how people perceive (or don't) what they can plainly see in full sight. But before I begin to explain what I did, I must state the following:

I do not encourage nor suggest anyone should repeat this experiment. It was merely to prove a point to myself and test out the following hypothesis: 

Colors which are associated with infantile toys and by which we have been habituated to recognise as exactly that, harmless toys, these color schemes/patterns present whatever they decorate as harmless objects. 

Therefore using these colors to "decorate" non harmless objects should render them not noticeable for anything other than a harmless object.

Introduction

In many societies today, the general public's awareness of someone with a knife has been overly heightened via irresponsible media, in association with those who would want to ban everything if they could. Even a folding knife in the closed state is easily recognisable even if you don't even own a knife. 

We perceive what it is via it's shape and color. Since camouflage  has long since been used to 'break up patterns" and hence disguising objects as part of the natural surroundings, could it be possible to use colors in a different way and that is, rather than to make the object "disappear" into it's background, make the object stand out but as something recognised as a harmless object?

Most of paint has since worn off or been removed by myself as i finished this experiment some years ago. I had painted or rather camouflaged the knife so if held upright, it would appear as a sort of silly dragon/monster/toy with big Pink colored eyes!

Materials and Methods

In short. I painted a large folding knife with colors and stickers commonly associated with  infantile toys. The said object was then openly carried (closed of course) and placed in general view of the "non outdoors" public, a public which has been chosen as conditioned to "Notice" such objects as knives and be wary of them. 

Results:

The results were amazing. 

After a year of running this experiment, it was clear that no one paid one bit of attention to what appeared to be a children's toy, especially when it was waved about in front of my kid, (they were an active participant) as if it was indeed a toy. and thus no one paid any more attention than a cursory glance if that. It was not deemed necessary to test the opposite, ie  

Conclusions. 

Of course I do not believe that this form of camouflage/deception would fool any who are familiar with a knife's form either closed or open. It was just a social experiment looking at conditioning.

Of course This is no different to an "umbrella" or walking stick" being weaponised without coloration.