Final answer:
The afternoon class is expected to perform better due to the Pygmalion effect, where teacher expectations can influence student performance.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct option is B:
Based on the research of Rosenthal and Jacobson, we could expect b) The afternoon class to perform better due to teacher expectations. Their landmark study highlighted the phenomenon known as the Pygmalion effect, where higher expectations lead to an increase in performance. Rosenthal and Jacobson originally conducted this research by telling teachers that certain students were likely to be "growth spurters" based on a fictitious test and discovered that the students who were expected to do better actually showed significant academic gains.
This effect occurs because teachers may unconsciously give more attention, encouragement, and support to the students they believe to be smarter, and as a result, those students perform better. In the scenario provided, since Susan informs Frida that the afternoon class is smarter, Frida may provide those students with more positive reinforcement, leading to improved academic outcomes for that class, despite the initial equality in academic performance between the two classes.