Andreoletti & Lachman, 2004
This experiment examined the role of education as a
buffer against stereotype threat regarding the elderly
and memory performance. Young (average age 31.8
years), middle-aged (47.7 years), and old (69.4 years)
normal functioning women and men were told they would
complete several tasks involving memory. One-third
of the participants were told that the tests revealed
age differences (stereotype threat), one-third were told
that the tests produce no age differences (stereotype
invalidation), and one-third were told nothing about age
difference on the test (control). Results showed that
for individuals with less education (less than a 4-year
college degree), recall was lower in both the stereotype
threat and stereotype invalidation conditions compared
with the control condition. Any mentioning of the
elderly stereotype appeared to reduce memory
performance, and this was true for all age groups. For those individuals higher in education (a 4-year
college or more advanced degree), performance was higher
in the stereotype invalidation compared with the other
two conditions. Education rather than age
moderated the effects of stereotype threat
manipulations.
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