“When we expect certain behaviors of others, we are likely to act in ways that make the expected behavior more likely to occur.”

(Rosenthal and Babad, 1985) SEE  SOURCE ( duq.edu)

What is the Pygmalion Effect?   CLICK HERE (SOURCE: wisegeek.com)

The Pygmalion Effect

Attention first came to the issue of teacher expectations in 1966, when Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson published the results of a powerful study later known as the Pygmalion Effect. According to Tauber (1998), the Pygmalion Effect asserts that “one’s expectations about a person can eventually lead that person to behave and achieve in ways that confirm those expectations” (p. 1). The study gained attention across the country, even beyond education, and continues to be discussed today.

Rosenthal and Jacobson’s research, conducted at an elementary school, required teachers to administer to each student the Test of General Ability (TOGA), which is designed to measure a student’s IQ (as cited by Spitz, 1999). After the students completed the test, some were chosen at random to be labeled as academic bloomers, and their names were then given to their teachers (as cited by Spitz, 1999). At the end of the academic year, when the students were re-tested, those students thought by teachers to be academic bloomers showed a more significant increase in TOGA scores than students not thought to be academic bloomers (as cited by Spitz, 1999). Thus, Rosenthal and Jacobson concluded that teachers’ expectations could influence students’ intellectual abilities, a statement that sparked national attention, including featured articles in The New York Times andThe New Yorker (Spitz, 1999).

EXTRACT FROM: Great Expectations? An Investigation of Teacher Expectation Research

By Chrissy Bruns, Laura McFall, Marika McFall, Tiffany Persinger, & Brooks Vostal READ ARTICLE (SOURCE: users.muohio.edu)

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