THE EXPECTANCY EFFECT

It seems too obvious to mention.  It is one of the first topics introduced in undergraduate education and psychology classes.  Yet, the expectancy effect (a.k.a. the halo effect or Hawthorne Effect) significantly alters the lives of students.

According to Sattler (1982), "teachers may overrate the responses of a child whom they perceive as 'bright' and underrate the responses of a child who appears 'dull.'  There is some evidence from social-psychological literature that expectancies may exert some subtle influences over a student's performance.

I have often observed this phenomenon in our schools.  Although [usually] unstated, it goes something like this:  "he is learning disabled, therefore he will perform poorly."  Or, "she is behaviorally disturbed, therefore she will act badly."

Expectations can be positive as well.  Bright students are identified and teachers hold high expectations;  these students excel not only because they are bright, but because they are expected to excel;  they are not expected to fail.  However, students in this situation sometimes suffer from the "teacher's pet syndrome," where, in extreme forms, students are not allowed to learn from their failures because they are never allowed to fail.  This circumstance can rob a student of 50% of their opportunities to profit during trial-and-error learning.

Simply stated, if an individual is expected to act like a jerk, s/he most probably will act like a jerk;  if the individual is expected to act in a competent, motivated manner, s/he most probably will act that way.

All humans have expectancies regarding students and situations and the process is not limited to teachers only.  A teacher is not a "bad" person for having expectancies for their students, classroom, and others.  The problem occurs when the expectancies are unfair or the result of a misattribution to others.

G.R. Lefrancois (1975) described "a striking illustration of this phenomenon (misattributions) is provided by the school teacher who found on his desk a list of IQ scores for the students in his class.  He copied them down in his record book for future reference.  During the course of that year, the teacher often noticed how well the students with the high IQs did when compared with those with low IQs.  At the end of the year, being a good, industrious, and well-educated teacher, he computed a correlation coefficient for IQ and achievement scores, and found a +.80 correlation.  In order to show how well he had taught, he brought this information to his principal.  It was with some embarrassment that he learned that no IQ tests had been given to his class, but that the list of scores he had found was nothing more than locker numbers."

An often utilized model of learning ("information processing model") includes expectancies as a crucial element in the learning process.

CONCLUSIONS:

People will always have expectations regarding their own and others' behaviors;  the "expectancy effect" will not go away.  Some "externally-oriented" people will be more affected by some expectations than others who may be more "internally-oriented."  However, adverse effects on others can be minimized when the teacher is aware of the process.  One way to reduce halo effects is to define traits in terms of concrete behavior.  Other methods include a "success-based" approach, guarding against stereotypes, and holding realistic expectations for each child (individualizing).  Rather than expecting all students to attain the same level of achievement, teachers should consider expecting/encouraging each student to work towards fulfilling the utmost of his or her individual potential.

The quote by Entertainment Tonight at the top of page one is just one of many similar statements I heard on television that night.  No research has proven adults to be more intelligent or more mature than teenagers.  But if we expect teenagers to act less intelligent and less mature, they will.  But we need to remember not to "blame the victim."
 

REFERENCES:

Sattler, J.M., Assessment of Children's Intelligence and Special Abilities, 1982, Allyn and Bacon, Inc., (2nd Edit.), p. 83.

Lefrancois, G.R., Psychology for Teaching, 1975, Wadsworth Publishing Co., (2nd Edit.), p. 263.

Gagne', R.M., The Conditions of Learning and Theory of Instruction, 1977, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, (4th Edit.), p. 71.
 

This informational resource was originally written in 1988... it was my first such writing.