A Productive Learning Environment: Group Association and Social Status

Abstract

In light of the importance of education and the powerful influence of external social factors on learning, this study, divided into two experiments, the Control and the Manipulation, investigated the effects of group association and group social status on word recall. This study tested the idea that group association holds academic advantages (the Control) and expanded upon this relationship through manipulation of group social status (the Manipulation). While there was no significant group association effect or group social status effect on word recall and, by extension, learning, directional consistency and the emergence of certain trends might suggest the possibility of their existence. Taken together, the possibility of these effects, the limitations of this study, and the suggested adjustments for the future foster a need for further research.