Stereotype threat and working memory: mechanisms, alleviation, and spillover.

Stereotype threat can both enhance and impair older adults' memory.

Negative stereotypes about aging can impair older adults' memory via stereotype threat; however, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are unclear. In two experiments, we tested competing predictions derived from two theoretical accounts of stereotype threat: executive-control interference and regulatory fit. Older adults completed a working memory test either under stereotype threat about ...

A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Investigation of the Neural Mechanisms Underlying Women’s Underperformance in Math

This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify the neural structures associated with women’s underperformance on math tasks. Although women in a control condition recruited neural networks that are associated with mathematical learning (i.e., angular gyrus, left parietal and prefrontal cortex), women who were reminded of gender stereotypes about math ability did not recruit t...

Running head: STEREOTYPE THREAT IN OLDER ADULTS

150) Negative stereotypes about aging can impair older adults’ memory; however, the mechanisms underlying this are unclear. In two experiments we tested competing predictions derived from two theoretical accounts: executive control interference and regulatory fit. Older adults completed a working memory test either under stereotype threat about their memory or not. Monetary incentives were mani...

Stereotype Threat Spillover: Why Stereotype Threat Is More Useful for Organizations Than It Seems

Moderators of and mechanisms underlying stereotype threat effects on older adults' memory performance.

Recent research has suggested that negative stereotypes about aging may have a detrimental influence on older adults' memory performance. This study sought to determine whether stereotype-based influences were moderated by age, education, and concerns about being stigmatized. Possible mechanisms underlying these influences on memory performance were also explored. The memory performance of adul...