A 'Senior Moment' or a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?
Studies like this show the critical importance of a person's mindset in determining intellectual performance. Similar studies have been done with inner-city kids and -- surprise! -- those that were told they're smart and can achive, DO ACHIEVE at higher levels.
Researchers refer to this self-undermining as a stereotype effect, and they have documented it in many groups. In studies, women perform less well on math exams after reading that men tend to perform better on them. Similarly, white men perform less well when they are told that they are competing in math against Asian students.
People over 65 also slump on memory tests when they are reminded of the link between age and mental decline.
Mr. COOPER: Just a year ago, 11-year-old Paulette was struggling in her old school.
PAULETTE: At my old school, my teacher asked everyone what they wanted to be when they grew up. I told her that I wanted to be a plastic surgeon. And that’s when our teacher said, ‘Girl, please, like you’re really going to become a plastic surgeon, you’re dumber than a bump on a log.’
Mr. COOPER: That teacher was wrong. At KIPP, Paulette’s on the honor roll.
A ‘Senior Moment’ or a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?
Resigning yourself to old age may produce the very mental lapses that most people fear will strike them in their golden years.
In a paper appearing in the current issue of the journal Social Cognition, psychologists report that men and women in late middle age underperformed on a standard memory test when told they were part of a study including people over age 70.
Inclusion with an older group — an indirect reminder of the link between age and memory slippage — was enough to affect their scores, especially for those who were most concerned about getting older, the authors concluded.
posted by Whitney Tilson at 5:35 PM
<< Home