Gender Stereotype Threat Effects On Working Memory Incollege Students

Stereotype is refers to according to gender, regional, ethnic, or professional, formed by the different fixed impression about specific groups, while the stereotype threat is a negative labels in the situation of individual experience. A large number of studies have shown that the universality of gender stereotypes, and produced by the effect of gender stereotype threat can significantly affect the individual task perform-ance. However, gender stereotype threat effect mechanism of individual task performance, is still debated. This study was to explore the gender stereotype threat to individual working memory. The study is divided into three parts:Studies 1:Stereotypic Explanatory Bias Questionnaire is used to survey of college students, the results show that college students’ implicit subject- gender stereotypes are universal, there is no gender difference, but there are certain ethnic differences and the difference between disciplines.Studies 2: Working Memory Span Operation experiment proves that the implicit subject- gender stereotype threat has a negative impact on individual working memory, in its longer task reaction time, lower accuracy, even higher sensitivity about anxiety, difficulty of questions and gender identity threat.This effect no gender differences.Studies 3: Through Stroop task paradigm, further discusses the subject- gender stereotype threat effect on working memory and processing mechanism. Proved our distraction hypothesis, namely the individual present in most consistent materials, Stroop task error rate significantly increased. In most inconsistent materials, reaction time no longer, namely the results did not prove response inhibition hypothesis.