What question did this study set out to answer?

To determine whether the situational threat of confirming negative intellectual stereotypes impairs the standardized test performance of African American students.

January 1, 1995Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans.

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Experimental series reveals verbal test impairment in Black participants under ability diagnosticity, indicating situational stereotypes disrupt standardized cognitive performance.

Key Points

To determine whether the situational threat of confirming negative intellectual stereotypes impairs the standardized test performance of African American students.
Conducted four experimental laboratory studies manipulating test diagnosticity (whether a difficult verbal test was framed as diagnostic of ability) and racial stereotype salience among Black and White participants.
Controlled for baseline academic ability using prior Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores across comparison groups.
Assessed cognitive stereotype activation and self-protective avoidance motivations under diagnostic versus nondiagnostic test instructions.
Black participants significantly underperformed relative to White participants in the ability-diagnostic condition, but performed equally well when the test was framed as nondiagnostic (controlling for SAT scores).
Ability-diagnostic test framing actively produced cognitive activation of racial stereotypes and motivated Black participants to avoid confirming them.
Making race salient prior to testing impaired Black participants' verbal performance even in the absence of explicit ability-diagnostic framing.

Cite This Study

A 1995 study studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a7effbf45af3218e19b265c https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.69.5.797

View Full Paper

Ask AI

Bookmark

Implication

Experimental series reveals verbal test impairment in Black participants under ability diagnosticity, indicating situational stereotypes disrupt standardized cognitive performance.

Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans.

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans.

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Also Consider

Also Consider