Effect of Explicit Examiner Expectancy upon WAIS Performance

Abstract
Previous research on the effect of teacher expectancy on pupils' intelligence-test performance has concerned very indirect relationships between the expectancy and its consequence. The present study investigates the effect of explicit examiner expectancy of good test performance upon testee performance on an intelligence test. The results indicate that female college students receiving an administration with high expectancy do significantly better on performance subtests than do control Ss receiving standard instructions. If it is assumed that expectancy effects reflect heightened motivation by the testees, the results call into question the traditional assumption that motivational factors are of minimal importance for middle-class college students' intelligence-test performance.

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