What You Expect Is What You Get Allison Peipert

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?  Clever Hans the Horse  Experimenter Expectancy Effect – The experimenter’s results are altered by expectations.  1963 rat study– students assigned “smart” rats reported faster maze times than “dull” rats  These results threaten all previous studies  Rosenthal wondered how this effected various environments, such as schools.

Theoretical Propositions  Labeled as Pygmalion Effect  Teachers, when given IQ scores of students, will treat students differently based on their scores  This will affect the students’ performances  Used Oak School– lower middle-class in large town

Method  Kids grades 1-6 given IQ test  Called a “Harvard Test”– predictor for academic “bloom and growth”  3 classes/grade level  Teachers were given the list of those who scored in the top 20% on the Harvard Test  This list was actually assigned at random  At the end of the year the children were given the same IQ test

Results  The children with the expectation of greater intellectual ability had greater improvement on the test  The evidence of the Pygmalion effect decreased as age increased  -More easily influenced -Already have known standards -Difference between teachers for younger and older grades

Significance  Effects of teachers’ expectations  Accuracy of IQ tests  Study in 1974: Teachers told random students were “bright”  -Smiled more  -Eye contact  -Favorable reactions  -Students enjoy school more  What if IQ tests are inaccurate? If all teachers bias based on these tests?  Similar results were shown based on race, gender, and other categories instead of IQ