They were told that either speed-reading skills were improvable or not. Students who got positive feedback on their speed reading abilities rated it as a good skill to have regardless of whether it was improvable or not. Americans were told that their intelligence could be improved, while the control group did not receive this information. The ones who took part in the intervention largely improved their grades and had a higher GPA compared to the control group. The argument is that women and minorities are subjected to stereotyped beliefs that undermine performance.
Stereotype threat occurs when negative stereotypes exist as an explanation for poor performance.
This type of threat is reduced when people think their abilities are not being evaluated, when stereotype is not relevant in a situation, and when people think they are in an environment in which they will not be treated stereotypically.