Neuville & Croizet, 2007 This experiment examined whether stereotype threat effects would emerge in a real classroom setting. To see if they would, French children in the 3rd grade (7-8 years of age) were asked to color drawings of a boy or a girl with a ball, respectively (to highlight self-gender) or a landscape (control) then to complete a set of difficult and easy math problems. Results showed that girls performed less well on the difficult items when their gender had been highlighted compared to the control condition.  Boys' performance on difficult items was unaffected by the coloring task. Performance on the easier items did not differ by condition, though girls showed a slight tendency to perform better when their gender was highlighted. These results show that stereotype threat effects can occur in young children in a realistic setting but that these effects emerged only on difficult and challenging items.   Back to top | Previous Page