mindset Born Smart?

Mindset Related to belief about ability creates a whole mental world to live in FIXED mindset - ability cannot change GROWTH mindset - ability can change (Dweck, 1999)

Measuring mindset (Dweck, Chiu & Hong, 1995) You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you cant really do much to change it You can learn new things, but you cant really change how intelligent you are

Motivational framework: goals (e.g. Dweck & Elliot, 1983; Dweck 1986,1990,1991) Learning goals vs performance mastery and competence OR demonstrating intellect grades and marks reflect how people are doing NOW OR grades predict the future increased performance and enjoyment OR shy away from challenges

Response to setbacks and failures (e.g.Diener & Dweck, 1978, 1980) Resilient vs helpless Pay attention to learning Focus on what they are learning rather than feeling Attempt new ways to do things Use self-motivating statements such as I can When faced with impossible to pass tests they will factor in other reasons for failure

Mindset, brain and feedback (Mangels et al, 2006) each time participants got a wrong answer they were given the correct answer They got an unexpected retest afterwards People oriented differently towards negative feedback fixed mindset showed less attention to the formative information and more to how they felt Those with a growth mindset did better on the re test

Effort effect ( e.g. Legget & Dweck, 1986; Mueller & Dweck, 1997) reflection of low intelligence OR necessary part of success Hard work means I dont get it OR means I need to try harder effort = lack of ability OR effort = success

Growth mindset more open to learning willing to confront challenges, able to stick at difficult tasks and bounce back from failures (Dweck, 1999)

Better performance school transitions (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007) demanding business tasks (Kray, 2007) difficulties in relationships (Kammrath & Dweck, 2006)

Can mindset change? (Bergen, 1992) people who read a growth mindset article changed their mindset and their persistence in the face of setbacks

Can mindset be taught? (Blackwell, Trzesniewski, and Dweck, 2007) 8 session built around study skills the growth mindset group also learned about the brain and how the brain is like a muscle; the more you use it the more connections it makes improved in motivation (greater conscientiousness, and more effort into the classroom learning) and grades

Math Achievement

Can mindset be taught? (Aronson, Fried & Good 2002) watching a video about the brain and its huge potential writing a letter to struggling younger student more enjoyment of learning at University and better grades

Other ways to change a mindset feedback Tutor, teacher, parent belief about young person ability

Feedback (Mueller & Dweck, 1998) Praised for effort Praised for ability goals 90% of the group created learning goals 66% of the group created performance goals enjoymentcontinueddecreased persistencecontinueddecreased performanceimproveddeclined lied about scores one individual 40%

Number of problems solved before failure

Pygmalion effect (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968) Teacher expectancy effect teachers were told that tests indicated that some children would bloom over the coming school year ( pupils were randomly assigned) The bloomers group made greater gains in achievement over the year Similar findings have emerged in other areas; university, business, military, banking (e.g. Eden, 1990)

Managers beliefs (Heslin, Wanderwalle & Latham, 2006) Managers who adopt a fixed mindset are less good at recognising real changes in staff members they are less likely to help those they are managing teaching mindset changed beliefs and behaviour; managers gave more and better suggestions to employees during appraisals and were more likely to notice improvements

Born smart? mindset has a significant impact on motivation and performance, Beliefs can be changed

Thanks!

Link and further reading Ez Dweck, C.S., (1999) Self theories: Their Role in Motivation and Personality