Stereotype threat and working memory: Mechanisms, alleviation, and spillover.

Abstract

Stereotype threat (ST) occurs when the awareness of a negative stereotype about a social group in a particular domain produces suboptimal performance by members of that group. Although ST has been repeatedly demonstrated, far less is known about how its effects are realized. Using mathematical problem solving as a test bed, the authors demonstrate in 5 experiments that ST harms math problems that rely heavily on working memory resources-especially phonological aspects of this system. Moreover, by capitalizing on an understanding of the cognitive mechanisms by which ST exerts its impact, the authors show (a) how ST can be alleviated (e.g., by heavily practicing once-susceptible math problems such that they are retrieved directly from long-term memory rather than computed via a working-memory-intensive algorithm) and (b) when it will spill over onto subsequent tasks unrelated to the stereotype in question but dependent on the same cognitive resources that stereotype threat also uses. The current work extends the knowledge of the causal mechanisms of stereotype threat and demonstrates how its effects can be attenuated and propagated.

An integrated process model of stereotype threat effects on performance.

“…In addition, Beilock et al (2007) recently found that women under stereotype threat about their math abilities reported worrying more about and monitoring their performance. Beilock et al suggested that such thoughts contribute to the effect of stereotype threat because working memory becomes loaded with distracting information that competes for attentional resources.…”

STEREOTYPE THREAT SPILLOVER AND SAT® SCORES

“…The current study investigates a recent assertion that stereotype threat can not only affect performance on tasks that are the target of the specific stereotype but also spill over into subsequent tasks unrelated to the stereotype (Beilock, Rydell, and McConnell, 2007). Stereotype threat refers to the fear that individuals feel of confirming negative stereotypes about a group to which they belong.…”

“…In another study that provided the impetus for the current analysis, Beilock et al (2007) tested an implication of their previous finding. In the fifth study in their series of related experiments, they presented participants with either a verbal or a spatial task after presenting the horizontal math problems under stereotype threat.…”

“…More recently, Beilock et al (2007) investigated the mechanisms underlying stereotype threat. They cited Schmader and Johns (2003), who argued that stereotype threat serves to diminish working memory capacity needed to perform a task.…”

“…They suggested a second possibility that these worries occupy the phonological aspects of working memory. Beilock et al (2007) devised a clever experiment in which they administered the same math items to two groups of individuals. The math items were written differently on the page, either vertically or horizontally.…”