Mindset as Context for the Internet of Everything mediaX 2014 Stanford University “Well-being and Productivity in a Globally Connected World”

Learner or Non-learner? “I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures… I divide the world into the learners and non-learners.” -- Benjamin Barber

You don’t see unmotivated babies!

Yet many of the things we do are turning people into non- learners.

How do we make sure people remain learners?

Mindsets Matter Fixed Mindset: Intelligence is a fixed trait Growth Mindset: Intelligence can be developed

Mindsets Matter

Math Achievement Blackwell, Dweck, & Trzesniewski (2007 ) Math Grades

How Do Mindsets Work?

Mindset Rule #1 Fixed Mindset: LOOK SMART AT ALL COSTS Growth Mindset: LEARN AT ALL COSTS

Mindset Rule #2 Fixed Mindset: IT SHOULD COME NATURALLY Growth Mindset: WORK HARD, EFFORT IS KEY

Mindset Rule #2 Fixed Mindset: IT SHOULD COME NATURALLY Growth Mindset: WORK HARD, EFFORT IS KEY

Mindset Rule #3 In the face of setbacks… Fixed Mindset: It’s about me HIDE MISTAKES & DEFICIENCIES Growth Mindset: It’s about learning CONFRONT MISTAKES & DEFICIENCIES

After Setback Fixed Mindset: “I’d spend less time on this subject from now on.” “I would try to cheat on the next test.” Growth Mindset: “I would work harder in this class from now on.” “I would spend more time studying for the tests.” Blackwell, Trzesniewski and Dweck, 2007

Moser et al., 2011

Mindset Rules Fixed Mindset 1.Never look dumb 2.Don’t work hard 3.Run from difficulty Growth Mindset 1.Learn 2.Work hard to learn 3.Learn from mistakes

Creativity O’Connor, Nemeth, Akutsa, 2013 Mindsets predict: 1.Performance on a creativity task 2.Lifetime creative achievement

Creativity O’Connor, Nemeth, Akutsa, 2013 Most artists and supposed creative types just copy someone else. They adjust, tweak a little, but overall, it’s just the same thing...”

Creativity O’Connor, Nemeth, Akutsa, 2013 “But some people have some inherent quality that lets them see the bigger picture and do something truly creative.” “But some people work to a point that lets them see the bigger picture and do something truly creative.”

Creativity: Originality Ratings O’Connor, Nemeth, Akutsa, 2013

Corporate Mindsets A Culture of Genius or a Culture of Development? “When it comes to being successful, this company believes that people have a certain amount of talent, and they can’t really do much to change it.”

Creativity & Innovation In Organizations: Murphy, Chatman, Kray, & Dweck, 2104 Corporate MindsetsCorporate Mindsets

Risk-Taking In Organizations: Murphy, Chatman, Kray, & Dweck, 2104 Corporate Mindsets

How are mindsets fostered? Mueller & Dweck, 1998; Kamins & Dweck,1 999; Cimpian, Arce, Markman, & Dweck, 2007; Gunderson et al., 2013.

Praise: Messages About What We Value Intelligence Praise: “You’re really smart, talented, good at…” Process Praise: “You worked hard, tried good strategies, took on a big challenge, stuck to it, improved…”

Intelligence vs. Process Praise Mindset: Fixed vs. Growth Non-learner vs. learner After Difficult Task: Not resilient vs. resilient Baby Praise

What to Praise Effort, struggle, but not just effort… Strategies, choices, decision-making process Choosing difficult tasks, persisting, capitalizing on mistakes Learning, improving

Yesterday’s vs. Tomorrow’s Praise You did that so quickly and easily. That’s impressive! You did that so quickly and easily. I’m sorry I wasted your time. Let’s do something you can learn from.

Encouragement Sohl-Dickstein, Paunesku, Haley, & Williams, 2014, in prep.

Growth Mindset Encouragement Khan Academy online learning N = 265,082 Growth-mindset encouragement vs. controls

Correct Answers Post-Treatment *

Corrective Feedback Kenthirarajah, Haimovitz, Walton & Dweck, 2014, in prep.

Growth Mindset Incentive Systems O’Rourke, Haimovitz, Ballweber, Dweck, & Popovic, 2014

Brain Points Rewarded the use of effort, strategy, and progress.

Increased… Overall time played Strategy use Perseverance after challenge And most important…

Distribution of Players Who Persisted for 30 Minutes

Do we convey that certain abilities are more fixed? And does this affect who participates in a field?

Female representation in STEM subjects Leslie & Cimpian, and minority students too.

A Field’s Mindset? Leslie, Cimpian, & Meyer, 2014 When it comes to [computer science], the most important factor(s) for success.. are motivation and sustained effort; raw ability is secondary. is a special aptitude that just can't be taught.

Mindsets & Representation Correlation between field’s (fixed) mindset and female representation in STEM: (r= -.64) Predicts Africa-American representation as well.

Changing Mindsets Directly What else can be done?

The brain is a network of cells (neurons)

The cells communicate through chemical messages

Math Grades (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck)

Transforming the Meaning of Effort and Difficulty

“Probability, I was just like, ‘I don’t get this at all.’ But I was just like, okay, I’m going to do this... I want to do this because it’s so hard.”

Is it ever too late?

High School Intervention Effect on GPA Students in Bottom Tercile N=531

Community College Course Dropout Students Who Withdrew From Developmental Math N = 288

High-Quality Public 4-yr. University: Who Maintained a Full Course Load? N = 7,342 N = 356

School/Community-Based Intervention Native American Students Stephanie Fryberg Quil Ceda and Tulalip Elementary School on Tulalip Reservation 90% Minority School was always in the bottom 5% of the state

Culturally relevant Parent involvement (TV program) 6 hours a day growing your brain Students’ mistakes, confusion, and struggles help teachers grow their own brains

After Years Kindergarten and 1 st graders: Lead the district in oral reading fluency 2 nd -5 th Grade Literacy and Math: Many are showing 1.5 to 2 years of growth per year

Growth Mindset… Can be about other domains: Health Willpower Relationships

Thank you!