N t i the
Nurturing
th Academic
A d i Intelligence
I t lli
of Children
Joshua Aronson, Ph.D.
New York
k University
i
i
The Minority
Minority-White
White Gap
Prison:
Blacks and Latinos vastly overrepresented
College
Blacks 1/2 as likely
likel to go; 2x
2 as likely
likel to drop out
o t
High School:
50% drop out rate; 22-4 year reading gap
K-12
Lower standardized test scores and grades
Birth--Preschool
Birth
Nearly equal ability test scores
Under-Performance of Women In
Math & Science
While outperforming men in all other areas of academia,
women earn less than 25% of the degrees in Computer
Science,, Physics,
y
, and Engineering
g
g
College: women perform worse on standardized tests of
mathematics but do well in their courses; far fewer choose
math// hard science
i
majors
j
Middle School: Girls earn equally high grades but begin to
lose confidence in math abilities; test score gap on
standadized tests emerges
K-12: Girls Perform at or above the same level as boys on
tests and in school; show less intrinsic interest in spatial tasks
Common Explanations for Group
Differences
1. Lower innate intelligence
--The
Th B
Bell
ll Curve
C
--Biological differences in math ability
2. Poverty (lower skills and preparation)
3 Subculture
3.
S b l
that
h discourages
di
academic
d i success
“Acting
g White”
Larger Culture of Anti-intellectualism
Larger Culture of
Anti-Intellectualism
Larger Culture of Anti
AntiIntellectualism
Recent polls indicate among Americans:
• 20% Believe that the Sun revolves around Earth
• 20 % C
Cannott locate
l t the
th U.S.
U S on a World
W ld Map
M
• 80% believe the Government is hiding evidence of space
Aliens
All of the traditional explanations fall
short of explaining the gap, even when
combined;
bi d something
hi else
l must be
b
involved…
Part One:
Intelligence is Fragile
Operational Definition: Intelligence = IQ
Scores, Performance in School, Verbal
Fluency, etc.
“Human intelligence is among the most
fragile
g things
g in nature. It doesn’t take
much to distract it, suppress it, or even
annihilate it.”
--Neil
Neil Postman
The Fragility of Intelligence
Some social factors:
• Interpersonal Intimidation (being smarter,
funnier etc with some people)
funnier,
• Threatened Belongingness (Baumeister, 2002)
• Stereotype Threat/ Identity threat (Steele &
Aronson,, 1995))
Identity Threat
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
relevant,
– everyone experiences
i
this
thi in
i some form
f
Examples of Identity Threat
• Jewish person in the Bible Belt
• African American Taking an IQ test
• Woman called upon
p in math class
Stereotype Threat: No Explicit Bigotry Required
Stereotype Threat
Anecdotal Evidence
“When I talk in class, I feel as though I’m totally on
stage, like
lik everyone’s
’ thinking,
hi ki ‘oh
‘ h what’s
h ’ the
h Black
l k
girl going to say?’ But I don’t speak up in class much
anymore so I guess it’s
anymore,
it s not a big deal
deal.”
—Stanford Undergraduate
Stereotype Threat
Anecdotal Evidence
“Group work was a nightmare. I could tell that no one
thought
h
h my ideas
id
were any goodd because
b
I’m
’ Latina.”
i ”
—NYU Undergraduate
Stereotype Threat
Anecdotal Evidence
“Everyone expects me to be good at math because I’m
A i so I feel
Asian,
f l extra stupid
id because
b
I’m
’ not so goodd at
math.”
—NYU Undergrad
g
Stereotype
y Threat
Anecdotal Evidence
“I knew I was just as intelligent as everyone else... but
f some reason I didn’t
for
did ’ score well
ll on tests. Maybe
b I
was just nervous. There’s a lot of pressure on you,
knowing that if you fail
fail, you fail your race
race.”
—State
State Senator,
Senator Rodney Ellis (TX)
Laboratory Experiment on Stereotype Threat
Steele & Aronson (1995). Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology.
• Method: Reducing Evaluative Scrutiny
• Measure: Blacks’ and Whites’ Verbal GRE
Performance
Verbal Test Performance
15
13
whites
# of items sollved
11
9
7
5
blacks
3
1
"Measuring Your Ability"
"Not Measuring Your Ability"
Verbal Test Performance
15
13
whites
whites
# of items sollved
11
9
blacks
7
5
blacks
3
1
"Measuring Your Ability"
"Not Measuring Your Ability"
Verbal Test Performance
Corrected for SAT
10
9
whites
# of items solved
8
blacks
whites
7
6
5
blacks
4
3
2
1
STEREOTYPE THREAT
NO STEREOTYPE THREAT
Laboratory Experiment on Stereotype Threat
Steele & Aronson (1995)
Method: Inducing the Relevance of Race
Measure: Blacks’ and Whites’ Verbal GRE
Performance
Verbal Test Performance
10
9
whites
# of items solved
8
blacks
whites
7
6
5
4
blacks
3
2
1
Asked to Indicate Race
Not Asked to Indicate Race
Math Test Performance
Of College Men and Women
(Spencer, Steele & Quinn, 1999)
men
# of items solved
21
16
11
women
6
1
Control
"No Gender Differences"
Math Test Performance
Of College Men and Women
(Spencer, Steele & Quinn, 1999)
men
21
# of items solved
men
women
16
11
women
6
1
Control
"No Gender Differences"
Additional Studies Findingg Performance Effects
• 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
• White Males Taking Math Tests
When White Men Can’t Do Math
Aronson et al.,
Aronson,
al (1999).
(1999) Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Psychology
12
11
10
Ittems Solved
d
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Test of Your Math AbilityTest of Your Math Ability
Relative to Asians
When White Men Can’t Do Math
Aronson, et al., (1999). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
12
11
10
d = .93
Ittems Solved
d
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Test of Your Math Ability
Test of Your Math Ability Relative
to Asians
Stereotype Threat
in the “Real World”
Educational Testing Service
Field Study:
Asking About Gender before or After
g AP
Before Taking
ETS Field Study:
Asking Gender Before Taking AP Calculus
Test Hurts Girls
17
AP Forrmula Score
16
15
Female
Male
14
13
12
11
Inquiry Before
Inquiry After
(Stricker, 2002). Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
Educational Testing Service Study:
Asking Gender Before AP Calculus Test
p Boys
y
Hurts Girls, Helps
AP Form
mula Score
17
16
15
Female
Male
14
13
12
11
Inquiry
q y Before
Inquiry
q y After
Danaher and Crandall (2008)
Reanalysis of ETS Study
“Women benefited substantially on the
calculus test when demographics
g p
were
asked after testing rather than before. This
simple,
p , small,, and inexpensive
p
change
g
could increase U.S. women receiving AP
Calculus AB credit by
y more than 4,700
,
every year.”
Field Experiment: Women in the
Science Pipeline
Highest Level Calculus Students
Field Study: Women in the Science Pipeline
Calculus items solv
ved
Highest Level College Calculus Students
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
05
0.5
0
Female
Male
CONTROL
"NO GENDER
DIFFERENCES"
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
5
4.5
4
Calculus items solved
3.5
3
Female
2.5
Male
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
CONTROL
"NO GENDER DIFFERENCES"
Good, Aronson, & Harder (2008) Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
California Exit Study Experiment:
Comparing performance on High
and Low Stakes Tests
High Stakes Tests Hurt Minorities and Girls
Graduation effects are concentrated
among minority
i i students
d
Estimated Differences in 10th Grade Scores on High Stakes (CAHSEE) vs. Low Stakes (11th grade ELA CST) Tests, for Average Student in Bottom Quartile of State ELA CST Score Distribution, Classes of 2006 & 2007
State ELA CST Score Distribution, Classes of 2006 & 2007
Black
p
Hispanic
Asian
Female
FRPLE
ELL
10th Grade Score
ELA CAHSEE
Math CAHSEE
‐0.263 ***
‐0.339 ***
(0.042)
(0.042)
‐0.215 ***
‐0.319 ***
(0.039)
(0.039)
‐0.277 ***
‐0.073
(0.044)
(0.044)
‐0.027
‐0.192 ***
(0.020)
(0.020)
‐0.073 *
0.002
(0.033)
(0.033)
‐0.283 ***
‐0.002
(0.024)
(0.024)
Note: Coefficients indicate the difference in the estimated difference in scores on the CAHSEE and the 11th grade ELA CST between a given group and the reference category, conditional on the full model (which includes additional controls for 9th & 10th grade CST scores and district fixed effects).
Conclusions from 300 Studies
• develops around age 10 in most children
• can affect even those students with lots of ability and lots of
confidence in their abilities,, from anyy ggroup
p
• can arise as a function of grouping alone, integrated groups
trigger it.
it
• mediated by anxiety, reduced working memory capacity,
and reduced self-regulation capacity.
• Stereotype threat influences GPA as well as immediate
performance: Accounts for about 10% of the GPA Gap
Chronic Stereotype Vulnerability
Can lead to Lower Ability
Chronic Stereotype Vulnerability
Can lead to Lower Ability
•Avoidance of Challenge/practice
g p
•Disengagement
From Vulnerabilityy to Inabilityy
"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
push-ups
ups with
their brains.”
Judith
Jud
t Rich
c Harris
a s
Part Two:
Reducing Threat
Mindset Matters
Biological Differences in Spatial Ability
• Largest
L
t sex differences:
diff
S ti l Ability
Spatial
Abilit
• May
y account for most of the math test score ggap
p
• Testosterone?
Vandenberg Mental Rotation
Task
A meta-analysis
t
l i containing
t i i 286 d
data
t sets
t and
d 100
100,000
000
subjects found a highly significant male advantage for mental
rotation; this pattern remains stable across age and has not
decreased in recent years
years.
Identity Salience Influences Women’s Mental
R
Rotation
i Performance
P f
25
WOMEN
MEN
VMR SCO
ORE
20
15
10
5
GENDER
ELITE COLLEGE
STUDENT
McGlone & Aronson (2006). Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.
CONTROL
Identity Salience Influences Women’s Mental
R
Rotation
i Performance
P f
25
WOMEN
MEN
VMR SCORE
V
E
20
15
10
5
GENDER
ELITE COLLEGE
STUDENT
McGlone & Aronson (2006). Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.
CONTROL
Identity Salience Influences Mental Rotation
P f
Performance
25
WOMEN
MEN
VMR SCORE
V
E
20
15
10
5
GENDER
ELITE COLLEGE
STUDENT
CONTROL
Reducing Stereotype Threat:
The role of conceptions 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
Experiment
Aronson (in preparation)
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
M
Measure:
Bl
Blacks’
k ’ andd Whites’
Whit ’ Test
T t Performance
P f
Conceptions of Ability and Test
Performance
11
10
# of items solved
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Non-improvable Like SAT Verbal Improvable Skill
Ability
Conceptions of Ability and Test
Performance
11
10
# of items solved
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Non-improvable Like SAT Verbal Improvable Skill
Ability
#o
of items solved
Conceptions of Ability and Test
Performance
11
10
9
8
7
African Americans
Whites
6
5
4
3
2
1
"Nonimprovable
Ability"
"Like SAT
Verbal"
(control)
"Improvable
Skill"
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
4
MALLEABLE
CONTROL
3.55
3 34
3.34
GPA
3.32
3.05
3
2
Blacks
Whites
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
– 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
TAAS--Latinos
Latinos
Good, Aronson & Inzlicht (2003) Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.
READ
DING TAA
AS SCORE
E
100
90
80
Malleability
Intervention
Role Model
Control
7th Grade Girls
Girls’ Math TAAS
100
GIRLS
Math T
TAAS SCO
ORE
BOYS
90
80
70
Malleability
Intervention
Role Model
Good, Aronson & Inzlicht (2003) Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.
Control
Cooperative Learning
Slavin & Oilicke (1981)
Method: Study Cooperatively or Alone
Measure: Test performance
p
Verbal Test Performance
80
whites
blacks
TEST SCO
T
ORE
75
70
whites
blacks
65
60
55
50
Individual Learning
Cooperative Learning
Some Policy Implications
• Strict, high stakes testing regimes may be hurting
minorities; some believe exit exams should be
discontinued
• If they are kept
kept, steps need to be taken to reduce their
harmful effects
• Psychological interventions are far cheaper and often more
effective than large expensive ones
Reducing Effects of Stereotype Threat:
Effective Strategies
• De-emphasize ability; emphasize effort, persistence
• Stress the malleability of intelligence
• Exposure to Role Models who overcame struggles
• Cooperative learning
"By nature emplanted, for nurture to
enlarge
enlarge"
Richard Mulcaster, 1581
First Headmaster of Merchant Taylors' School in London
Thank You!
[email protected]