THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE SCALE  For the Activity that we are about to do, use a scale of 1-6 to answer the following questions. There are no right or wrong answers. We are interested in your ideas.  1=Strongly agree4=Mostly Disagree  2=Agree5=Disagree  3=Mostly agree6=Strongly Disagree

Big Questions for You… 1) You see a puzzle in a science magazine and it’s labeled “Test Your IQ.” You work on it for a very long time, get confused, and you start over. You make very slow progress but finally solve it. How do you feel? Do you feel sort of dumb because it required so much effort? Or do you feel smart because you worked and mastered it?

2) Imagine a child you know who keeps getting lots and lots wrong on his or her schoolwork and asks you for help. What would you say or do?

1) You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you can’t really do much to change it. 2) Your intelligence is something about you that you can’t change very much. 3) No matter who you are, you can significantly change your intelligence. 4) To be honest, you can’t really change how intelligent you are. 5) You can always substantially change how intelligent you are. 6) You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic intelligence. 7) No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit. 8) You can change even your basic intelligence level considerably.

Post-Test  Now, reverse the numbers you put in front of each sentence.  1 changes to 6  2 changes to 5  3 changes to 4  4 changes to 3  5 changes to 2  6 changes to 1

 Now add up your score. It will be anywhere between 8 and 48.  Scores below the midpoint of 28 reflect the belief that one’s intelligence is fixed. Scores above 28 indicate the belief that one’s intelligence is malleable.

What’s the Big Deal?  These two theories profoundly effect motivation. “If my traits are fixed then I can’t do much to change. I’m stuck with who I am. The best I can do is to validate what strengths I might already have and hope that they will help me win approval and avoid rejection.”

There is no sense in trying to promote growth in others either, as they will remain who they are despite my best efforts. On the other hand, if my traits are malleable, I have the potential to improve.”