What colour is the letter A? I don’t mean the letter A in this particular post. I mean, if you imagine an upper case A, what colour is it?

While my son and I were hanging out at Science World last week, dressed as knights and building Lego castles, a UBC researcher approached and asked if we’d participate in a study. She would read a story, then my son would play a game. (Now that I think about it, I’d better tell him not to fall for this line if it comes from a middle-aged man in a camper van.)

The story was all about purple balls and french fries. The game involved hitting a button on the left when french fries or purple balls appeared on a computer screen, and hitting a button on the right for cookies or red balls. Then the buttons got switched…

Afterwards, the researcher explained that she was studying the ways our minds form associations and whether, once formed, these associations are malleable. Once purple balls go with french fries, will they always go with french fries?

Which leads me back to my original question. What colour is the letter A? So far, most people I’ve asked say red. The letter A is red. And I’m thinking that’s because at some point, we all flipped open a board book and learned that A is for apple. In red.