Speaking of differences between learners have you ever wondered why some people no matter how talented fail to attain their own educational expectations? A joint research team from Texas and New York believe that it is down to fears we all have about stereotypes.
It seems that the more conscious we become of our own failings the less likely we are to do well in tests and this can hold us back in life. The report’s author Dr Matthew McClone said: “There is clear, consistent evidence that has piled up over the years indicating that measures of intelligence and scholastic aptitude - which are ostensibly designed to measure enduring traits and dispositions - can be dramatically influenced by situational factors”.
The researchers, Matthew McGlone and Joshua Aronson, cleverly primed the test subjects with cues that triggered latent fears. Women for example were made aware of supposed male superiority in mathematics, African Americans and Latinos were tested on verbal skills. Caucasian males were pitted against the supposed analytical superiority of Asian Maths students. The primal fears aroused were enough to lower their ability to perform and thence their IQ.
Oddly enough those same fears could just as easily be turned around to enable the same groups to perform above their potential. Women could be reminded that they were graduates of elite private colleges, Asian women were told of innate superiority in mathematics and men were well, just reminded that they were men, and that was enough, it seems to raise their IQ considerably.
“The results suggest that the positive performance expectations associated with certain social identities (e.g., private college students are smart) can mitigate the threat caused by negative performance expectations associated with other identities (e.g., women aren't good at math)” explained Dr McClone.
What this research clearly shows is that a positive outlook about learning can take us a long way towards achieving our goals!
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