"A," by contrast, "always means success, and sometimes perfection," he said. "J," by contrast, has no special meaning.
Christopher A. Wolters, an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Houston who's familiar with the study findings, said they fit in with previous research suggesting "that an individual's thoughts and actions can be influenced by the processing of information that occurs below conscious consideration."
How can students avoid being influenced by outside factors like the letter "F" and not perform more poorly on a test? "I'm not sure they could," Ciani said.
As for teachers, Ciani said they should be careful to use different versions of a test in order to avoid "inadvertently causing students to do better or worse."
And, he said, "if teachers want to adorn their walls with positive messages, I can't say that would help, but I don't think it will hurt."
The study appears in the March 2010 issue of the British Journal of Educational Psychology.
More information
There's help with improving test-taking skills at the Pennsylvania State University.
SOURCES: Keith Ciani, Ph.D., assistant professor, educational psychology, University of Missouri, Columbia; and Christopher A. Wolters, Ph.D., associate professor of educational psychology, University of Houston; March 2010, British Journal of Educational Psychology
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