Effects of task difficulty, race of administrator, and instructions on digit-symbol performance of Negroes.

Abstract

Abstract : White and Negro experimenters administered digitsymbol tasks of three levels of difficulty to Southern male Negro college students. The task was described as a test of eye-hand coordination. On the most difficult task Ss worked more efficiently when tested by a white than when tested by a Negro. On the two easier codes the skin color of the administrator had no effect. Next, two additional groups of Negro Ss were tested by the same Negro and white experimenters on the most difficult task only, but now the task was described as a test of intelligence, rather than as a test of motor coordination. The effect of the I.Q. instructions was to elevate slightly performance with a Negro tester and to lower scores markedly in the white-tester group. (Author)