But this didn’t happen for blacks in the academic rear guard of Mikel’s high school sample. The black test takers who cared less about school were unfazed by the stereotype. They performed the same regardless of whether the test was presented as an ability test or as a nondiagnostic laboratory task. And in both of these groups, they performed at the same level as white students who, like them, didn’t care much about achieving in school and didn’t have strong skills.
