Also referred to as a latent achiever, a person whose performance is significantly below that which would be predicted by educators.

Although the term "underachiever" commonly refers to anyone, child or adult, who performs below his or her potential, psychologists typically use the term to refer to a student whose performance in academic studies falls significantly below his scores on standardized tests of aptitude or ability. A student may also be considered to be underachieving based on the educator's evaluation of her learning potential in relation to the quality of the work she does on class assignments.

There are many explanations for achievement that falls below evaluated potential. Some problems may be the educational experience itself: bright students may be bored by class assignments, and therefore do not give them...