medium · MCAT psych-soc

An African American medical student is administered a high-stakes surgical board exam. In Condition A, the proctor emphasizes that the exam is 'an evaluative measure of innate surgical intelligence.' In Condition B, the proctor describes the exam as 'a non-evaluative problem-solving exercise.'

If the student performs significantly lower in Condition A than in Condition B, despite equal difficulty, this discrepancy is most likely mediated by which factor?

  1. The fundamental attribution error committed by the proctor while evaluating the exam-taker's performance.
  2. The activation of a negative self-relevant stereotype leading to physiological stress and reduced working memory.
  3. The presence of a p < 0.05 significance level in the testing environment somehow causing the student to 'choke.'
  4. A self-fulfilling prophecy initiated purely by the student's own private expectations of eventual failure.

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