College students’ categorical perceptions of grades: it’s simply ‘good’ vs. ‘bad’

College students’ categorical perceptions of numeric and alphabetic grades were examined by assigning participants to one of four conditions: numeric grades alphabetic grades, numeric non-grades and alphabetic non-grades. They were then asked to give ratings for each possible grade or non-grade, using a 10-point scale. Factor analysis revealed that college students view both numeric and alphabetic grades as occurring in dichotomous categories, presumably either ‘good’ or ‘bad’. There were no neutral categories for course grades. Replications consistently yielded similar results, although specific boundaries between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ grades varied slightly.