Stereotype Threat and Social Costs of Academic Achievement

Researchers from the University of Colorado recently demonstrated that a simple intervention, a 15 minute writing exercise, essentially "closed" the gender achievement gap on a physics assessment. I read about this simple and elegant study demonstrating the power of stereotype threat on test scores on the same day I read Daniel Willingham's excellent summary of "The Social Costs of Academic Achievement"

This might be a tough (but important?) topic to discuss with students in a psychology class, but maybe its more important that we talk about it with our colleagues. We all read and hear about how the importance of "closing the achievement gaps" between ethnicities. How much of these "gaps" can be accounted for by a combination of stereotype threat and the social cost of “acting white” as described by Willingham?

And, more importantly, what can we do about it?

posted by Rob McEntarffer

Self-Discipline more Important for Success than IQ

These findings probably won't surprise most teachers, but I wonder if the findings might start interesting classroom conversations. This LifeHacker blog post summarizes research coming out of Seligman's Positive Psychology Center regarding the relative impact of high levels of self-discipline vs. IQ as predictors of success. As teachers, I bet we would have predicted the outcome: Self-discipline wins. But it might be interesting to hear what students would predict, and whether these findings match their experiences/perceptions? The original research article is also available in full text.

It also might be interesting to bring Dweck's research about "ability vs. effort" attributions into this conversation about self-discipline vs. intellectual "ability"



Posted by Rob McEntarffer

The Big Five Personality Test

The debate on whether or not to give high school psychology students personality or intelligence tests been going on for as long as I can remember. Rather than venture into the debate, the Midnight Postings will include links to various personality tests and allow each individual teacher to decide whether or not to use them.

Please be aware, personality tests posted on this site have not been thoroughly examined. It is extremely important that teachers preview personality and intelligence tests before using them in class.

The Big Five Personality Test was developed by Oliver John from the University of California Berkely. This online test can be found at http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/

Creating the Future

Creating the Future Perspectives on Educational Change, compiled and edited by Dee Dickinson, is an e-book found on the New Horizons for Learning website. Three articles in the book deal with intelligence.

• David Perkins - Mindware and the Metacurriculum
  
  
• Howard Gardner - Intelligence in Seven Steps
  
  
• Robert J. Sternberg - Triarchic Abilities Test

To find the articles, either click on the above author's name, or go to the book's table of contents at http://www.newhorizons.org/future/Creating_the_Future/crfut_frontend.html

Even though the New Horizons for Learning has "retired", many of the articles on the site are still pertinent to educators at all levels and subjects. The homepage is located at http://www.newhorizons.org/index.html

The History of Military Testing

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is currently used by all of the armed services in the United States as a means to screen recruits. The official ASVAB website includes a brief history of Military Testing. That history includes a link to sample questions from the Army Alpha and Beta tests used in the early 1900's.

The History of Military Testing can be found at http://www.official-asvab.com/history_res.htm and the homepage for the ASVAB testing can be found at http://www.official-asvab.com/index.htm. You might want to look through the section devoted to researchers which includes information on the ASVAB structure, validity and norming.

Chapter six of Jane Halonen and Steven Davis' e-book, The Many Faces of Psychological Research in the 21st Century is entitled "Dr. Jekyll Meets Mr. Hyde: Two Faces of Research on Intelligence and Cognition" and written by Robert Sternberg. The chapter provides a great overview of the theories of and research in intelligence.

Chapter 6 can be found at http://teachpsych.org/resources/e-books/faces/script/Ch06.htm with The Many Faces of Psychological Research in the 21st Century at http://teachpsych.org/resources/e-books/faces/script/index.htm

Interviews with Robert Sternberg

For the second time this week we are drawing from the Human Intelligence Website at the University of Indiana (http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/). Included within the biography of Robert Sternberg are a number of short video clips of him being interviewed on various aspects of intelligence and his life.

All the videos can be streamed into your classroom using Windows Media Player. The site includes a link where the player can be downloaded and a transcript for each interview.

The videos can be found in the U of Indiana Human Intelligence Website at http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/sternberg_interview.shtml

Human Intelligence Website Biography Map

The Human Intelligence website at the University of Indiana includes an interactive map of major contributors to the field of intelligence. A detailed biography is included for each individual.

To go to the "History of Influences in the Development of Intelligence Theory" map, simply click on the graphic to the right or go to http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/map.shtml

For additional information go to the home page for the Human Intelligence site at http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/

Howard Gardner's Website

Howard Gardner, theorist of multiple intelligences, has developed his own website devoted to his theory and work. The site can be found at http://www.howardgardner.com

I would suggest paying particular attention to:

• Gardner's own life story. The link (In His Own Words) is at the bottom of the biography section
  
• a number of scholarly articles on a multitude of topics in the articles section
• Dr. Gardner's FAQ Responses. Click on the link at the bottom of the FAQ page

For additional information go to Gardner's Harvard website at http://pzweb.harvard.edu/PIs/HG.htm

History of IQ Testing

IQ Tests are primarily a product of the 20th Century . While most textbooks provide a brief history, starting with Binet, a few websites do the same.

The ACE Intelligence Website at http://www.aceintelligence.com/detailed_history_of_iq.php, gives a fairly detailed history of IQ testing following various individuals important in test development including a few prior to Binet.

The IQ Test Center at http://www.iqtest-center.com/history.php provides a brief history of testing similar to many textbooks.

Classics in the History of Psychology (http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/author.htm) have a number of the original articles on intelligence testing. They include:

Baldwin, James Mark, Cattell, James McKeen, & Jastrow, Joseph. (1898). Physical and mental tests. Psychological Review, 5, 172-179.

Binet, Alfred. (1916). New methods for the diagnosis of the intellectual level of subnormals. In E. S. Kite (Trans.), The development of intelligence in children. Vineland, NJ: Publications of the Training School at Vineland. (Originally published 1905 in L'Année Psychologique, 12, 191-244.)

Cattell, James McKeen. (1890). Mental tests and measurements. Mind, 15, 373-381.

Terman, Lewis M. (1916). The uses of intelligence tests. From The measurement of intelligence (chapter 1). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Intelligence? Definitely Problem-solving

In keeping with Kent's theme of intelligence, I found a great video podcast a while back about a street magician whose primary focus is critical thinking and skepticism. Brian Brushwood's podcast is called, Scam School and is part of Revision 3's hosting services.

The episode entitled, House of Nails, is about being able to balance about 10 nails on top of one vertically mounted nail of the same type. I've been aware of this "trick" for almost 15 years thanks to Charlie Blair-Broeker back at an institute at Nebraska Wesleyan.

You can show the videos in class or learn them yourself (he shows the viewer how every trick is done) and amaze and astound your students. Because he does his work on the street or in a bar, you may want to learn the tricks yourself depending upon your district and judgment. Do at least check them out and enjoy trying to figure out--they are great puzzlers for those of us who need to do brain exercises. :-)

MENSA

Most high school students, especially those in Advanced Placement Psychology, are intrigued by MENSA, the organization for the top 2% of the world's IQs.

To begin our Midnight Postings in the Intelligence Unit, we are posting the websites for the American MENSA and MENSA International. Both sites contain a number of interesting items. The international site appears to contain more information about the group and what MENSA entails, while the American site appears a bit more fun for high school students.

MENSA International can be found at http://www.mensa.org The American version is at http://www.us.mensa.org