Steele and Aronson (1995)

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

To investigate how stereotype threats may affect an individual’s test performance (how stereotype threats affect test performance in African Americans)

Question 2

Sample

Answer 2

114 male and female, black and white undergraduates from Stanford university

Question 3

Variables

Answer 3

Independent-
1) The race of the participant
2) The test descriptions

Dependent - test results

Question 4

Key factors of the study

Answer 4

• Participants were given a standardized test of verbal ability + told either
  1) It is a test to diagnose your intellectual ability (verbal ability focus)
  2) It is a test of your problem-solving skills
• Randomly assigned to conditions

Question 5

Results

Answer 5

• African Americans did poorly when they believed that the test was a test of their ability (stereotype threat condition)
• African Americans did just as well as white Americans when they believed it was about problem solving (non-stereotype threat condition)

Question 6

Evaluation

Answer 6

• Not representative
• Independent samples design (matched-pairs designs would be a better approach)
• Although there is a difference it doesn’t necessarily mean the participants experienced stereotype threat