"before taking a test on vocabulary and reading comprehension, quentin hears the teacher remark that females generally do better on those types of tests. what may best explain why quentin actually ended up doing more poorly than the females in his class"

The one that best explain why quentin actually ended up doing more poorly than the females in his class would be: stereotype threat
stereotype threat is a form of threat that derives from a situation where someone feel that they must conform to stereotypes about their social group.
Other example of this is Asian kids that feel the pressure to do well in their class because in general Asians tend to do so.