This Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Minority Post-Doctoral Research and Training Fellowship will empirically investigate the affective and cognitive processes that can distinguish stereotype threat test performance effects from ideomotor test performance effects. It is hypothesized that stereotype threat effects will be mediated by affective concerns as well as cognitive memory deficits, while it is hypothesized that ideomotor effects will not be mediated by either affective or cognitive factors. The aim of studies 1 and 2 are to investigate the affective concerns can distinguish these two effects. Study 3 is designed to investigate the cognitive processes that can distinguish these effects. Finally, the aim of study 4 is to investigate the mediational order of stereotype threat effects. Specifically, the goal of study 4 is to determine if affective concerns can mediate cognitive memory deficits. Taken together, these studies would provide initial evidence that stereotype threat and ideomotor effects are truly distinct and that they have differing processes. The present studies represent the first attempt to integrate stereotype threat research and ideomotor research. The methodology and design that will be used in these studies borrows from both areas of research, thus enabling the results of the proposed studies to be linked back to research in each area. The researcher has conducted a number of studies investigating stereotype threat and believe that he has a clear understanding of the issues surrounding both theories. In addition, Dr. Steele, his mentor at Stanford University, is the preeminent scholar on stereotype threat and is keenly aware of the issues that are relevant to stereotype threat and ideomotor theories. Therefore the researchers are well suited to conduct this research. Investigating the differing processes of stereotype threat and ideomotor effects is of intellectual importance because there has been much debate and confusion regarding which of these processes is contributing to the undermining of minority students. academic pursuits. By determining how these processes are distinct, researchers can more clearly test when and how stereotypes impact the academic performance of minority students. In addition, the results of these studies will provide clarity to the general stereotyping literature, as the stereotype threat theory and ideomotor theory literature specifically.
