Stereotype Threat�and the Nature and Nurture�

of Intelligence

Joshua Aronson New York University

March 14, 2011 Shipley School

The Achievement Gap is a Complex Problem

“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple and neat—and it is always wrong.” —H. L. Mencken

The Black-White Gap

1 Million Black Males Are Missing

Common Explanations for Gap

1.  Lower innate IQ

--The Bell Curve

2. Poverty (lower skills and preparation)

3. Subculture that discourages academic success

“Acting White”

But: Larger Culture of Anti-intellectualism

Larger Culture of Anti-Intellectualism

International Comparisons

“The test was so easy that I think that if the kids in America couldn’t do this, they’re really stupid”

Belgian High School Student

Larger Culture of Anti-Intellectualism

Surveys indicate that among Americans: •  20% Believe that the Sun revolves around Earth

•  20 % Cannot locate the U.S. on a World Map

•  80% believe the government is hiding evidence of space Aliens

International tests: •  Reveal US students to be surprisingly less educated than

Asian and European countries—but highest in self esteem!

American Anti-Intellectualism An

American Anti-Intellectualism An

African Americans fail in school not because they are African; they fail in large part because they are American.

Aronson’s First Law:

All of the traditional explanations fall short of fully explaining the gap, even when combined in a regression analysis; something else must be involved…

Part One:�Intelligence is both Fragile and

Malleable�

Operational Definition: Intelligence = IQ Scores, Performance in School, Verbal

Fluency, etc.

“Human intelligence is among the most fragile things in nature. It doesn’t take much to distract it, suppress it, or even annihilate it.”

--Neil Postman

“A massive body of evidence says that reading and mathematics achievement have strong ties to underlying intellectual ability, that we do not know how to change intellectual ability after children reach school.” Charles Murray, Bell Curve coauthor (2008)

Conceptions of the nature of Intelligence�

“The mind is much more like a muscle than we’ve ever realized… it needs to get cognitive exercise. It’s not some piece of clay on which you put an indelible mark.”

James Flynn, intelligence expert, 2007

“Human intelligence is more fragile and malleable than most people think—far more so than the than the makers of the SAT and other tests would have us believe. ”

Joshua Aronson (2009)

•  Interpersonal Chemistry (feeling smarter, funnier, etc. with certain people)

•  Threatened Safety (Sharkey, 2009) •  Threatened Belongingness (Baumeister, 2002) •  Stereotype Threat/ Identity threat (Steele &

Aronson, 1995)

The Fragility of Intelligence� Some social factors: �

Apprehension arising from the awareness of a negative stereotype or personal reputation in a situation where the stereotype or identity is relevant, and thus confirmable

–  everyone experiences this in some form

Stereotype/Identity Threat�

•  Jewish person in a money context

•  African American Taking an IQ test

•  Woman called upon in math class

•  George W. Bush and public speaking

Examples of Identity Threat�

Average estimate = 1080 Bush’s Actual Score = 1330 Estimate Bush’s SAT Score

Stereotype Threat�Anecdotal Evidence

“When I talk in class, I feel as though I’m totally on stage, like everyone’s thinking, ‘oh what’s the Black girl going to say?’ But I don’t speak up in class much anymore, so I guess it’s not a big deal.”

—Stanford Undergraduate

Stereotype Threat�Anecdotal Evidence

“Group work was a nightmare. I could tell that no one thought my ideas were any good because I’m Puerto Rican.”

—NYU Undergraduate

Stereotype Threat�Anecdotal Evidence

“Everyone expects me to be good at math because I’m Asian, so I feel extra stupid because I’m not so good at math.”

—NYU Undergrad

Steele & Aronson (1995). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

•  Method: Reducing Evaluative Scrutiny

•  Measure: Blacks’ and Whites’ Verbal GRE Performance

Laboratory Experiment on Stereotype Threat

Verbal Test Performance�

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whites

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"Measuring Your Ability" "Not Measuring Your Ability"

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Verbal Test Performance�

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"Measuring Your Ability" "Not Measuring Your Ability"

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Verbal Test Performance�Corrected for SAT�

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STEREOTYPE THREAT NO STEREOTYPE THREAT

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Steele & Aronson (1995)

Method: Inducing the Relevance of Race

Measure: Blacks’ and Whites’ Verbal GRE Performance

Laboratory Experiment on Stereotype Threat

Verbal Test Performance�

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Asked to Indicate Race Not Asked to Indicate Race

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Math Test Performance� Of College Men and Women�

(Spencer, Steele & Quinn, 1999)

Math Test Performance� Of College Men and Women�

(Spencer, Steele & Quinn, 1999)

Additional Studies Finding Performance Effects

•  Women Taking Math Tests

•  Latinos taking verbal tests •  Elderly taking short-term memory tests •  Low SES Students taking verbal tests

•  Blacks and Miniature Golf •  Women taking tests of Political Knowledge, Driving, Chess •  White males taking tests of social sensitivity •  Princeton Students from Non-preppy Backgrounds on math tests

•  White Males Taking Math Tests

When White Men Can’t Do Math�Aronson, et al., (1999). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.�

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45

67

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Test of Your Math Ability Test of Your Math AbilityRelative to Asians

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When White Men Can’t Do Math�Aronson, et al., (1999). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.�

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Test of Your Math Ability Test of Your Math Ability Relativeto Asians

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d = .93

Conclusions From 350 Published Studies •  Impairment occurs both on IQ tests and in terms of GPA

•  Impairment on tests results from anxiety, arousal, reduced working memory capacity, impaired self-regulation; not typically a function of reduced effort

•  fMRI studies show that women use different regions of the brain when doing math under ST; higher blood pressure

•  Can affect elite or non-elite students •  Can arise as a function of simply mixing students

•  ST is much more likely to affect African Americans than immigrant black students

"I have conceived a higher opinion of the natural capacities of the black Race, than I had ever before entertained. Their apprehension seems as quick, their memory as strong, and their docility in every respect equal to that of white children."

Experiment on Black Intelligence

Benjamin Franklin, 1763

Stereotype Threat �in the�

“Real World”

Educational Testing Service� Field Study:�

The AP Calculus Test �

Asking About Gender or After Before Taking AP

ETS Field Study: �Asking Gender Before Taking AP Calculus

Test Hurts Girls

(Stricker, 2002). Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

Educational Testing Service Study: Asking Gender Before AP Calculus Test

Hurts Girls, Helps Boys

Danaher and Crandall (2008) Reanalysis of ETS Study

“Women benefited substantially on the calculus test when demographics were asked after testing rather than before. This simple, small, and inexpensive change could increase U.S. women receiving AP Calculus AB credit by more than 4,700 every year.”

California Exit Study Experiment:�Comparing performance on High

and Low Stakes Tests

Do High Stakes Tests Hurt Minorities?

44% 46%

53%

61%

43%

31% 34%

45%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Whites Hispanics Blacks Asians

2003 (Pre-CAHSEE)

Gra

duat

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rate

Effects of High Stakes on High School Graduation Effect of CAHSEE Requirement on Graduation Rates, Bottom Quartile Students, By Race

(estimates adjusted for prior ELA achievement, poverty, ELL status, and gender)

Field Experiment: Women in the Science Pipeline

Highest Level Calculus Students

Highest Level College Calculus Students

Good, Aronson, & Harder (in press) Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Field Study: Women in the Science Pipeline

Advanced Level Women Outperform Advanced Men in Calculus When Threat Reduced

Good, Aronson, & Harder (2008) Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Field Study: Women in the Science Pipeline

Beyond Test Performance�

Chronic Stereotype Vulnerability Can lead to Lower Ability

• Avoidance of Challenge/practice

• Disengagement/disidentification

Chronic Stereotype Vulnerability Can lead to Lower Ability

"No circle is more vicious than the one having to do with intelligence. Children who may be only a little behind their peers to begin with tend to avoid those things that could have made them a little smarter. As a result they fall further and further behind. Meanwhile the kids who started out a little ahead are doing push-ups with their brains.” Judith Rich Harris

From Vulnerability to Inability

End of Part One�

Part Two:� Reducing Stereotype Threat �

Improving Performance�

Reducing Stereotype Threat� Mindset Matters

Identity Salience�

•  Largest sex differences: Spatial Ability

•  May account for most of the math test score gap

•  Testosterone?

Biological Differences in Spatial Ability

Vandenberg Mental Rotation Task

A meta-analysis containing 286 data sets and 100,000 subjects found a highly significant male advantage for mental rotation; this pattern remains stable across age and has not decreased in recent years.

Identity Salience Influences Women’s Mental Rotation Performance

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GENDER ELITE COLLEGESTUDENT

CONTROL

VMR

SCOR

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WOMEN

MEN

McGlone & Aronson (2006). Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

Identity Salience Influences Women’s Mental Rotation Performance

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GENDER ELITE COLLEGESTUDENT

CONTROL

VMR

SCOR

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WOMEN

MEN

McGlone & Aronson (2006). Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

Identity Salience Influences Mental Rotation Performance

5

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GENDER ELITE COLLEGESTUDENT

CONTROL

VMR

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WOMEN

MEN

•  Asian women perform better on a math test if you remind them of their Asian identity, worse if you remind them of their gender

•  Stanford undergraduates consume less Alcohol if you suggest to them that nerdy Stanford Grad students drink a lot

•  Girls given the opportunity claim they are “trailblazers” expressed twice as much interest in taking science and math courses

•  Being prompted to list ways that women and men are simlilar reduces math gap by lifting women’s math scores

Examples of Identity Effects

Principal of the Year, Maryland

Crellin Elementary School: went from lowest to highest scores

“Crellin students tie their own shoes”

Examples of Identity Effects

The Growth Mindset�

Conceptions of the nature of Intelligence�

“The mind is much more like a muscle than we’ve ever realized… it needs to get cognitive exercise. It’s not some piece of clay on which you put an indelible mark.”

James Flynn, intelligence expert, 2007

Question: What if you were led to believe ability is

malleable? Would it reduce effects of stereotype threat?

Method: Framing test as a measure of a fixed or a malleable ability

Measure: Blacks’ and Whites’ Test Performance

Experiment Aronson, McGlone & Doyle (2010)

Conceptions of Ability and Test Performance

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Like SAT Verbal Improvable Skill

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Conceptions of Ability and Test Performance

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African Americans Whites

Question: Can a growth mindset improve math test scores

among black school children (aged 9-13) ?

Method: Black North Carolina students primed for race or not, given growth mindset or not.

Measure: Math Test Performance (EOG)

Experiment Alter, Aronson, et al (2009)

Math Test Performance�Black Grade School Students�

Reducing the effects of Stereotype Threat In the real world: Shaping implicit theories

Question: Can getting people to believe in expandable intelligence reduce effects of stereotype threat on GPA?

•  Method: Attitude change •  Measure: End of year GPA

Year End Follow-Up:�

GPA

Aronson, Fried & Good (2002). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Reducing Stereotype Threat in Middle School: A field Intervention

Question: Can psychological intervention raise test scores of minority students?

•  Method: mentoring study; attitude change •  Conditions:

–  Malleability of intelligence (Japanese) –  Role Models: senior students who stress the normality of early difficulty –  Control (drug abuse message)

•  Measure: Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS)

7th Grade Reading TAAS--Latinos

80

90

100

MalleabilityIntervention

Role Model Control

READ

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TAAS

SCO

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Good, Aronson & Inzlicht (2003) Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

7th Grade Girls’ Math TAAS

70

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MalleabilityIntervention

Role Model Control

Mat

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AS S

CORE

GIRLS

BOYS

Good, Aronson & Inzlicht (2003) Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.

Awareness of Stereotype Threat�

Question: Can understanding Stereotype threat reduce its

effects?

Method: Forewarning about ST or Test Anxiety

Measure: Blacks’ Test Performance a week later

Reducing Stereotype Threat: The role of awareness

Aronson & Williams (under review).

African American’s GRE Performance

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Forewarning-ST Forewarning-TestAnxiety

Control

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Stereotype threat

No stereotype threat

Cooperative Learning

Slavin & Oilicke (1981)

Method: Students Studied Cooperatively or Alone

Measure: Math Test performance

Cooperative Learning

Math Test Performance�

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Individual Learning Cooperative Learning

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