Stereotype threat effects have been explained within different frameworks such as the mere effort account (Jamieson & Harkins, 2007), the disruptive mental load (Croizet et al., 2004), the attentional control theory (Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007) or the arousal-based theory (O’Brien & Crandall, 2003). The integrated process model (Schmader, Johns, & Forbes, 2008) attempted to integrate existing frameworks for explaining stereotype threat effects. It assumes that interrelated cognitive, physiological and affective processes can impair executive resources thus hampering efficient processing. In an fMRI study by Wraga,

Helt, Jacobs, and Sullivan (2007), the confrontation with a negative stereotype about one’s own group resulted in impaired performance and in raised activation of amygdala as well as in reduced activity in brain regions ABT-199 price associated with high performance

in spatial ability (e.g., ventral and medial portions of anterior prefrontal cortex). Additionally, increased activation in the rostral-ventral anterior cingulate cortex (a region associated with emotional self-regulation) and the right orbital gyrus (a region associated with social knowledge) were found. Similar results were found by Selleck AZD8055 Krendl, Richeson, Kelley, and Heatherton (2008). These results largely support behavioral research showing that coping with negative stereotype related emotions seize cognitive resources

that could otherwise be used for cognitive tasks (Schmader and Johns, 2003 and Schmader et al., 2008). In other words, women may underperform under stereotype threat because valuable cognitive resources are spent on emotional regulation and thereby reducing working memory capacity. The main aim of this study was to examine whether sex differences in neural efficiency could be attributed to the stereotype threat effect. In this study Cyclooxygenase (COX) a visuo-spatial task is selected, since there exist robust sex differences and stereotypes regarding visuo-spatial performance, especially in mental rotation (for a review cf. Halpern et al., 2007). Furthermore, visuo-spatial skills are a fundamental element in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) which indicates the practical significance (Lubinski, 2010) of this study. Lubinski (2010) even suggested that selecting students for advanced learning opportunities in STEM without considering spatial ability might be unprogressive. Therefore, several attempts have been made to discover the origins of sex differences in spatial ability. Women working on visuo-spatial tasks might be affected by implicitly activated stereotypes resulting in higher arousal (cf. O’Brien & Crandall, 2003). Moreover, higher arousal could lead to higher and more diffuse brain activation which then would oppose efficient processing.