Pygmalion in Reverse

Abstract

The effects of learning potential (LP) and teacher expectancies on IQ, school achievements, and teacher ratings were studied in eight special classes for the retarded. Fifty-eight EMR subjects were divided into four groups in a 2 1/2 design, first according to their true unrealized intellectual potential (high and low LP) and then at random into expectancy groups (high and low). The subjects were tested at the beginning and the end of the school year. The IQ, and particularly its reasoning component, was affected by learning potential, but not by teacher expectancies. A consistent interaction effect was found for changes in most of the teacher ratings and some of the objective achievement scores, characterized by unexpected inferiority of the high-LP/high-expectancy group.