Students affected by hints of their demise

Yet another entry to our “Scientists Now Know” collection: When students take a test, if the test booklet (or whatever) already seems to indicate that the student will be given a bad grade the student tends to perform poorly. And if the test booklet hints that the student will be given a good grade, the student tends to perform better. The study:

“A versus F: The Effects of Implicit Letter Priming on Cognitive Performance,” Keith Ciani and Kennon Sheldon,  British Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 80, March 2010. The authors are at the University of Missouri. (Thanks to Kevin Lewis for bringing this to our attention.)

BONUS: Keith Ciani is a beer enthusiast.