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How Beliefs About Intelligence Affect Learning Success
Your attitude is vital
Carol Dweck is regarded as one of the forefront experts in motivation and mindset.
One of her (and other co-author’s) studies discovered a profound link between an individual’s belief system and their chances of success in any given endeavor.
The study sought to understand the influence of beliefs about intelligence on learning success.
Researchers divided students into two groups based on their theories of intelligence — incremental theorists who believe intelligence can be improved, and entity theorists who believe intelligence is fixed.
Using event-related potentials (ERPs), the study found that these groups processed learning-relevant information differently at the neural level. Both groups showed neural activity in the P3 region, but entity theorists exhibited a more heightened emotional response, particularly to negative feedback.
This suggests that this feedback threatened their self-perception about their ability. On the other hand, incremental theorists were more likely to engage in the cognitive processing of feedback, allowing them to rebound better academically after a failure.
