It depends on the class. For example, in some of my large pre-med classes, the professor would show a histogram of the grades following an exam and describe the curve or grading system he used. A student knew exactly how their exam grade compared to others in the class, as well as their overall grade. However, in smaller, upperclassmen engineering courses or classes with grading based on subjective papers, listing exam grades of other students or applying an obvious curve was more rare. Students didn’t know how their classmates did on exams/papers unless they asked them. With no curve and only in-major students taking the class, average grades were often high. Many such classes had few/no students receiving grades below A-.
My experience was rather than relative rank in class compared to classmates, students were far more concerned and stressed about their absolute grade in the class. For example, many students would be fine with getting the lowest grade in the class, if that lowest grade was an A-. Many students would be far more concerned about getting a top quartile grade, if that top quartile grade was a B+.
I also observed that the students who seemed most stressed about grades were often the ones with higher overall GPAs rather than lower ones. For example, the pre-med who has nearly all straight A’s, then gets an A- might find this situation extremely stressful. I knew one pre-med who acted extremely concerned about her A- grades, so much so that she would repeat the class for a replacement grade. When i think about the students I knew with lower grades, most didn’t appear too stressed about them, which relates to why they continued the behavior contributing to lower grades, such as prioritizing drinking/partying over studying.