Question

In a series of experiments, Steele and Aronson (1995) had both African-American and White students at Stanford University take a verbal test. In one condition, the test was described as a valid measure of intelligence, and in the other condition, the test was described as neither a reliable nor valid measure of intelligence. In the former condition, African Americans performed more poorly than did White students because __________.

Answer 1

Answer:

African Americans experienced stereotype threat.

Explanation:

In a series of experiments performed by Steele and Aronson in 1995, they had subjects from both African-American and white descent to a partake in a verbal test.

The verbal test was divided into two groups, with one described as being a valid measure of intelligence while the second was defined as not reliable in terms of measuring intelligence.

With this bias in mind, the African-Americans performed poorly in the former condition because they experienced stereotype threat which was as a result of decades of being told they were not smart enough or as intelligent as whites.