Racial biases, etc.

[Argent'horn]

Steve, the newest issue of Scientific American MIND has at least two articles which seem to give scientific support to many of the viewpoints you have expressed. I am both fascinated and impressed by the extent to which this magazine matches things you have told us from personal experience.

[Steven Barnes]

Can you be specific?

[Argent'horn]

Can you be specific?

I was sort of hoping you would pick up the issue and read it. It is full of lots of information in two articles. One of them discusses how people can to some extent alter their behavior to offset biases.

The other is about subconscious reactions to stereotypes that are applied to ones group. One of the examples was something to the effect that black people, given a GRE type test after being told in advance that it was not a test of intelligence, did essentially as well as white test takers. When black participants were told in advance that it was a test of intelligence, the performance was much weaker. To me, this points out clearly the reality of the burden of societal attitudes which you have frequently addressed. I think maybe I saw elsewhere a similar study in which women were given a mathematics test after being told either that 'this is a math test designed to be equally difficult for males and females' or 'women do not do as well as men on tests like this,' with large differences in performance being observed based on which statement was made to the participants.

If a single statement can make such a difference, a pervasive continual background of attitudinal biases must be overwhelming. I have a glimmer of this since, being from the southern Appalachians, I have often been pegged (presumably from my accent) as a hillbilly who is not to be taken seriously since I left East Tennessee.

I don't have the magazine here at my office with me, so I am writing from memory. There was a lot more in these two articles.

[Steven Barnes]

Thank you! I'm going to try to pick those up first chance I get.

[Daniel Bayer]

I think the whole article is online, if you don't want to buy the issue.

www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=how-stereotyping-yourself-contributes-to-success

[Argent'horn]

There are actually two articles relevant to this topic in the current issue of Scientific American MIND. Unfortunately, I am in my office and the magazine is at home; I don't recall the titles.

[Steven Barnes]

Read both articles. Yep, that pretty much goes with my own thinking.