Effects of bogus feedback on intelligence test performance.
French-Canadian high school students (N = 196) completed different forms of the Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT; E. F. Wonderlic, 1983) on two occasions. Before the second test, they received negative or positive bogus feedback about their initial performance. Most students (n = 158) were informed that the WPT measured intelligence, and the instruction was issued before either the first (n = 42) or the second test (n = 116). In the latter case, WPT validity either was not mentioned (n = 36) or was described as high or low (ns = 39 and 41, respectively). WPT performance improved on the second test, but it was not related to feedback in any of the instruction conditions. Reasons for these results and their practical implications are discussed.
Rousseau
F L
FL
Department of Psychology, Bishop's University, Lennoxville, Québec, Canada.
McKelvie
S J
SJ
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation