- Experiment done in 1965
- Public elementary school
- Teachers were told that certain children were "growth spurters" based on results from the Harvard Test of Inflected Acquisition
- The children who were "growth spurters" were randomly assigned
- Wanted to see if there were changes in student achievement due to teacher expectation, over a period of one year
- Tested IQ at the beginning and end of experiment 


Pygmalion in The Classroom- Method

Pygmalion effect- A psychological phenomenon where high expectations lead to increased performance. 

University of Georgia

Stereotype threat is the fear that one's performance may confirm a negative stereotype about an identity group. This fear can increase stress, anxiety, distraction, narrowed attention, and self-consciousness, thereby reducing performance. Relevant identities may include gender, ethnicity, age, or profession.

Stereotype Threat

Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom. American Educational Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.2307/1162010

Pygmalion in The Classroom (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968)

Steele, Claude M., and Joshua Aronson. "Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans." Journal of personality and social psychology 69.5 (1995): 797. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.797

Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans

Persistent and significant gaps in academic performance and/or educational attainment between male and female students.

Gender Gap in Education

In an experimental setting, Lauer et.al found that the recommended values-affirmation writing task was able to improve female students' learning gains in several introductory science classes (Intro Bio, Biochem, Physics).

- However, survey measures found that the both the control and test populations strongly disagreed with claims that would normally contribute to stereotype threat (e.g "I expect men to generally do better than women in biology"), even among the male sub-population. 

Lauer et.al suggests that the gender-based stereotype threat may not be consistent through institutions, and that previous initiatives focused on hiring female faculty may be "paying off" by inspiring current students as more and more female instructors being teaching introductory courses. In addition, Lauer et.al suggests that there may be a "stereotype reactance" effect, where women may respond to the challenge by overperforming, rather than stress about the stereotype.

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