Remember being told that our five closest friends tell more about us than we think? Well, there’s a whole lot more to this fact.
It turns out the people with whom we associate have a profound effect upon our intelligence and how we are perceived. If we like our conversation partner, we may find ourselves more witty than normal. And, if our classmates are intelligent, then we tend to achieve more.
More importantly, the converse- if we are “hanging around” with those considered intellectual slouches, then our test scores on intelligence tests are much lower. It may be why children from lower socioeconomic groups tend to “slouch” their intellectual performances, so they can blend in with their peer groups.
Drs. Joshua Aronson and Claude Steele have been studying this phenomenon, which they termed ‘stereotype threat’ since the early 1990s. Among their first articles was “Stereotype Threat and the intellectual test-performance of African-Americans”. This article described two tests- both involving Black students. If they were told they were engaging in a “laboratory problem solving task”, their test results were superior and on par with other (non-Black) students. However, if the same test group were told that the test was to measure their intellectual capacity, they performed much poorer.
And, it turns out this is true for everyone, not just minorities. If White students were informed that a test was to determine why Asian students outperform them, their results were inferior- even though these folks had already excelled on the SAT math portion. It also proved true when girls and boys were tested for spatial skills – and were told the test was to determine genetic differences between males and females.
Obviously, this stereotype threat has tremendous ramifications for our educational system. We blame the “environment” for the poorer results achieved in certain schools. It may turn out if we can change this peer-based bias, we can elevate the performance of all of our kids. At the very least, we need to change the “single test” concept that we have been employing to determine student performance and rely on continual assessments. Our teachers need to engender trust and warmth in the classroom- which will yield much better results than one based upon competition and exclusion.
This is what Aronson (NYU) is doing now, under a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences. He is examining two intervention techniques, using the reading of fiction and interactive media for 8th and 9th grades. A story is employed that demonstrates how intelligence can be changed with certain interventions, which will include scientific diagrams. It is hoped this dual-pronged approach will afford the students a means to break down their bias and begin to perform to the levels at which they are capable.
Roy, this is a FASCINATING field of study! As always, thanks for the great information – I’m off to tweet this!
Tor Constantino recently posted..Live Bold: A Leadership Guest Post
I’m honored, Tor….
Thanks for the visit AND those comments. (The tweets are pretty sweet, too!)
I’m facing this exact problem right now, with my daughter’s classmates. She was in a classroom, she was last on the name list, and then they decided to move her to another classroom (probably due to the number of children), where she is first on the name list. A simple difference… only she is once more in the worst possible classroom environment… at the critical age of 16!
I must try to charm the Principal, I guess… (the things a mother must do!)
Eleni Poulakou recently posted..Social Media Marketing: Customize Your Efforts
And, Eleni, I have NO doubt as to the ability of your charms!
I’ll let you know what happened 😉
Eleni Poulakou recently posted..Social Media Marketing: Customize Your Efforts
Ah, the old nature vs nurture concepts and arguements have a new discussion do they? I think that these are all so interesting but what is even more intersting to me is those children who, despite all that says they shouldn’t, acheive greatenss. The anomolies fascinate me. I think this is where we will find more that can help students.
Bonnie recently posted..Facing Fears
It’s what we tell them- and their peer pressure that affects their performance, Bonnie.
Thanks for the comment.
I remember a study done on teachers that changed the test scores of the kids. Teachers told they had the “smarter” kids had kids who tested better on standardized tests, while teachers told they had the kids who were “below average” didn’t do as well.
I also agree with the idea that one test doesn’t not tell enough about the intelligence of the student and that learning performance needs to be based on more than just tests period. There are more than one way to determine how a student is doing learning the material.
Here in Texas the schools are into a horrible system using some standardized test to determine both how well the students know certain subjects and how well the school is doing academically. For over a month the schools teach to the test. Kids get tense, teachers tenser and in the end this can affect everything from how much the school gets from the district to teacher raises. Meanwhile, the kids are thoroughly traumatized and have test phobias.
Lovely system, Texas has. I assume if we do, others do as well.
Ann Mullen recently posted..Stanton Lawson says:
This was one of the reasons why I posted this study, Ann…
I would love to stimulate a discussion as to what our children REALLY need in the schools for them to achieve the best results THEY can do…
So, it really WILL be No Child Left Behind…
The answer is to take them out of age controlled classrooms, put them into classes that they are interested in with others who share their interests or with computers, have small discussion groups or tutoring, don’t make them have to learn things they aren’t interested in right now, but don’t prohibit them from learning as much as quickly or slowly as they need. What, we don’t have the resources for the kids? How about closing down all the wars on -isms and put it into education (which doesn’t end in an -ism).
Ann Mullen recently posted..Stanton Lawson says:
I am not quite so sure that removing age-controlled classrooms is the answer. We need to be less rigid about our policies to place children in the appropriate setting, but many of them (even if they are well into adolescence) cannot handle the peer relationships that exist in classrooms when they are not age-controlled.
I do believe that those that can ought to be moved around to classes that match their abilities and needs, letting them progress at their pace and not that of the institution.
This attitude prevailed in the New York of my youth. Where many a child skipped grades 2 or 3 or 4. Where many never knew that there was a grade 8 (since they went right to high school). Until someone decided that skipping was bad- so kids began skipping school, instead.
Now intelligence is what? And does intelligence make us nice people to associate with or does it help us live better more purposeful lives? Maybe we need to decide how we live as better purposeful, passionate performers than more intelligent?
Intelligence and “being nice” are not related at all.
Politically correct be damned…
We become more learned, I doubt we become more intelligent. Oh, yes, we can do better on tests. Which some associate with being more intelligent.
What exactly do you think a performer is? Is someone who does exactly what s/he is told, albeit with a smile, a performer? Or a drone?
I, for one, want to be that soul that seeks out what is not and helps make it “is”. To be honest, to do that often requires the ruffling of feathers, since so many only like the comfortable, which is the familiar, which is what is now- and not what it should be.
Too many- given the fact that I am in America, and am being subject to these issues constantly (it is no longer daily or hourly)- believe that they are intelligent and unprejudiced. But, they use terms like “not American”, “lazy”, “not one of us”…
We need to eradicate what is… and get that “what should be” here NOW!
Interesting. Dislike the should though because who decides what should be? And yes what is performance. Doing your best or doing what someone else requires of you. This is a great think piece
Thanks for the comments, Roberta…and, yes, this is a great think piece, one that should make us wonder about those assessments of which we are constantly reminded.
I think peer pressure is much stronger than many people realize. It is fascinating that our test performance goes up or down in an unconscience attempt to “fit in” with our peers. I guess rejection is much worse than receiving a low test score.
This peer pressure is learned at a young age and these thoughts and habits are very difficult to unlearn. Great post, Roy!
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Janette…
That is the exact reason why I posted this. Because peer pressure is also the reason why kids try drugs, engage in sexual activities at an early age, etc. And, peer pressure also feed the fuels of “FEAR”, our inability to move forward “because”.
Thanks for bringing that out!
This is so fascinating, Roy! I’ve heard about similar studies before. It just goes to show that we may often underestimate how much the people around us and the words used around us can affect how we act and think about ourselves. This is something we should all be conscious of, so that we don’t measure ourselves incorrectly, or worse yet, base our self-judgment on “single tests.”
Samantha Bangayan recently posted..Living with Gusto Interview Series
Absolutely, Samantha!
Thanks for bringing that point clearly to the front…. The responsibility is ours as adults and for parents of their children.
Very interesting post, Roy.
Bonnie Anderson recently posted..Ten Scary Things
Yes, Bonnie… Lots of food for thought here.
Thanks for the comment- and the visit!
Is it because we think they are better than us? So once we get rid of those beliefs, we might able to change how we perform, right? And what if these people moved out to a place where the stereotypes didn’t exist (if that was possible); like people who didn’t have stereotypes.
Hajra recently posted..I am friends with weird people
Sometimes, it’s NOT because we think they are better than us, Hajra. It’s because we are afraid to find out the truth- so, by ‘punting’, we tell ourselves that the data is incorrect- because we know we didn’t try hard enough.. (It could be fear of knowing the truth; other times, it’s just because we are afraid we’ll be ostracized if we are one of “them”.)
You’ve got me thinking a lot about my 5 closest friends…..
Carolina HeartStrings recently posted..SC EVENTS – DECEMBER 2012
It’s not just me, Alessa… Lots of folks have found this to be true….
Thanks for the visit!
I love to see research/thought pieces like this Roy! As I watch my niece and nephew (who are now teens) grow and form circles of friends, I’m being more vigilant into they associate themselves with – without bias. I want to see who they naturally navigate to and then question why. So far, they seem to be hanging with ‘good’ kids who are into sports and do homework together. Though I do see some adults around me who may need to see this as I don’t think they understand this concept, not just for their children, but for themselves as well.
~Kesha
Great ideas, Kesha….
And, don’t forget, some of the folks WE hang around with….
🙂