The power perspective has in influencing human behavior is immense. In “The Perils and Promise of Praise”, Carol Dweck describes the power that education on how learning works and proper motivation coaching can have in promoting learning amongst adolescents.
Dweck found that students are often astounded to learn that the brain functions much like a muscle. The notion that increased usage of their brains can improve their intelligence by creating new neurological connections is a foreign, but fascinating concept (Dweck, 62). As discussed in chapter seven of the textbook, learning in humans depends upon two forms of neural plasticity: long-term potentiation and the creation of new synapses. While long-term potentiation creates an increase in responsiveness to certain stimulations through repeated exposure, the formation of new synapses leads to entirely new connections between neurons through the growth of new dendritic spines (Gleitmann, 297). In effect, Dweck and her staff
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fascinated the students by introducing them to the idea that one’s environment can have a direct impact upon that individual’s intelligence growth. This concept of experiences influencing neurological growth has its roots in the relationship between an individual’s genotype and phenotype.
Dweck explores this relationship in her discussion of the dichotomy existence of intelligence as a fixed or malleable trait. She explains that those with a fixed mind-set view intelligence as primarily shaped by a person’s genotype: Genetics alone determines the extent of intellectual prowess. Conversely, Dweck alludes to a belief in intelligence as a phenotype: an environment with increased effort and education positively correlates with increased intelligence (Dweck 60). Chapter 11 of the text establishes that while genetics plays an important part in intellectual development, the experiences and environment a person is exposed to plays an equally powerful role (443). The phenotypical characteristics of intelligence influences Dweck’s promotion of educating students on the affect increased effort can have on increasing their personal
intelligence. Dweck’s argument focuses upon how growth mind-sets foster better work ethics and an increased desire to learn. Her study showed that students praised for their intelligence rather than their effort focused upon showcasing what came easily to them rather than pursuing new and potentially difficult learning experiences: A direct contrast to those praised for the effort they exhibited (Dweck, 61). The textbook describes such individuals as having a performance orientation: a trait highlighted by the desire to perform well and appear smart in front of others alongside a deep-set aversion toward receiving negative feedback (Gleitmann, 487). The fact that Dweck’s fixed mind-set subjects sought out easy tasks and then performed poorly when faced with more challenging problems corroborates this classification. The growth mind-set subjects instead exhibited a mastery orientation that focused upon reaching self-actualization (Dweck 61). Dweck clearly endorses the idea of striving to realize oneself to the fullest and the growth mind-set behind it in the anecdote of the un-ruly boy who questioned “You mean I don’t have to be dumb?” (Dweck, 62). In high school, classmates were often envious of my ability to understand—with very minimal effort—new subjects and problems. Often, they praised my fluid intelligence by voicing their desire to be as naturally smart as I was. While this kind of praise stimulated my ego at the time, upon coming to Columbia, my eyes were opened to the detriments of developing such an attributional style. After realizing that effort served as the key to augmenting not only intelligence but also numerous character strengths, I began restructuring my mind-set to focus upon growth. A semester later, my grades and my overall appreciation of the challenge that Columbia offers have improved significantly. To me, the power of progressive praise is clear.
In Carol Dweck’s article titled, “Brainology” Dweck discusses the different mindsets that students have about intelligence. Some where taught that each person had a set amount of intelligence, while others were trained that intelligence is something they could develop and increase over time. in Dweck’s article she writes, “ It is a belief that intelligence can be developed that opens students to a love of learning, a belief in the power of effort and constrictive, determined reactions to setbacks” (Dweck pg. 2). Dweck is talking about a growth mind-set in which is how students perceive the growth of knowledge and that no one person is born with a certain amount of intelligence, it too can be trained and developed over time. By introducing Dweck’s ideas of a growth mind-set to students, students will enjoy learning and be less devastated by setbacks, because they know they can develop intelligence. Dweck also writes that students with a growth mind-set, “believe that intelligence is something that can be cultivated through effort and education. They
Also, in Carol Dweck’s research article “Brainology”, she states the subtitle “Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn”. She dishes mindsets and achievement, how do students learn these mindsets, and so on… … Dweck suggests, “Many students believe that intelligence is fixed, that each person has a certain amount, and that’s that. We call this a fixed mindset, and, as you will see, students with this mindset worry about how much of this fixed in intelligence they possess”. Many students believe that the challenge encountered in learning is a threat to their growth path. She put forward two different minds of the ideological study contrast, the finds showed that students studied with a growth mindset were more interested in learning and
Isaacson and Dweck begin and would agree with a similar base that intelligence, to a `certain point, is innate upon those who society sees as intelligent. Isaacson proves his viewpoint by exploring the mind of Steve Jobs, someone that most would consider to be the pinnacle of intelligence, and stating that “His imaginative leaps were instinctive, unexpected, and at times magical. They were sparked by intuition, not analytic rigor” (Isaacson 3). By emphasizing
Praise of intelligence had backfired. Dr. Dweck had suspected this would happen. She explained that quote, "Emphasizing effort gives a child a variable that they can control...They come to see themselves in control of their success. Emphasizing natural intelligence takes it out of the child's control, and it provides no good recipe for responding to failure," unquote. Children who believe intelligence is the key to success discredit effort and don't seem to understand its importance. When labeled "smart," kids think, "I'm smart, I don't need to put effort." Dr. Dweck repeated her experiments on different groups of students, and results were the same, regardless of socioeconomic status, age, or gender. Preschoolers even showed the same
In the article, Caution–Praise Can Be Dangerous, Dweck’s objective was to explain that praising students has a huge impact on performance and their way of thinking. Dweck studied fifth grade students and the effects of different messages said to them after a task. There were three responses: praise for intelligence, praise for effort, and praised for performance (with no explanation on why the students were successful). She described that having an understanding of how praising works could lead teachers to set their students on the right path. In Carol’s opinion the Self Esteem Movement did not produce beneficial results, but rather limited students’ achievement.
When reading the article “The Perils and Promises of Praise”, I was taken aback by the fact that there was a thing as negative praise. The studies show that just telling someone that they are intelligent is detrimental to future success in challenging situations because of the fear of failure. Encouragement of hard work and effort works more effectively than praising intelligence. I still feel that there is a missing element that was not mentioned in the article. It is secret number three in motivation for success in school. That motivation is the parents of the students. I was told that if I failed my classes, I could expect severe punishment and retribution for my failure, unless I prove I tried my best. Motivation is not just praise; it is the support of those adults in a student’s life that gives reinforcement of positive ideas
Learning a new subject, such as Physics, the mind has to learn all the formulas given in order to become better at doing the math that comes with the physics class. “ When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get stronger.”, stating that the more a person challenges themselves, their brain will better become good at that one thing or more than
Dweck’s view contradicts Isaacson’s because Isaacson believes in intelligence being an innate quality. Dweck however, defines intelligence as how individuals continue to push and persevere despite the several setbacks they encounter. Dweck’s studies show two types of mindsets; growth and fixed. Isaacson’s article leans more towards the fixed mindset rather than to the growth, or ideal mindset. Dweck also focuses more on the process than the final result as she holds learning and hard work in higher regard than the end result.
The main debate is about what intelligence actually is, who possesses it, and how can it be calculated? There are two approaches to this dispute, nature versus nurture. According to Exploring Psychology in Modules, the nature-nurture issue is the controversy over the relative contributions of biology and experience (6). On the nature side of things, psychometricians evaluate what proportion of intelligence is instinctive by examining IQ statistics. Conversely, cultural ecologists back up the nurture idea by bringing to light that intelligence is always changing and never the same thanks to our everyday experiences, thus making tests of intelligence unfair. These two groups of scientists have diverse techniques, which leads to the research not being able to be collaborated.
Most researchers believe that we are born with a certain intelligence or potential intelligence. They also believe that the intelligence we are born with is difficult to change. Psychologists use short-answer tests to assess one’s intelligence (Gardner papers). It was believed that intelligence was a single inherited thing. Human beings start out initially as a blank slate and could be trained to learn anything, provided that it was presented in an appropriate way (Multiple Intelligences and Education). Currently an “increasing number of researchers believe the opposite. Gardner defined intelligence as: “the ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is valued in culture; a set ...
Intelligence is a function of how well the brain works, and it's well established that our brains are designed by genes so it's not entirely surprising that some deem this as proof that our genes play a part in deciding a person’s intelligence. However, this is not a widely accepted fact and many scholars would argue intelligence is indeed not fixed by ones genes but instead manipulated by other factors.
On the ‘nature’ side of the debate is the psychometric approach, considered to be the most dominant in the study of intelligence, which “inspired the most research and attracted the most attention” (Neisser et al. 1996, p. 77). It argues that there is one general (‘g’) factor which accounts for intelligence. In the 1880s, Francis Galton conducted many tests (measuring reaction times to cognitive tasks), (Boundless 2013), in order to scientifically measure intelligence. These tests were linked to the eugenic breeding programme, which aimed to eliminate biologically inferior people from society. Galton believed that as intelligence was inherited, social class or position were significant indicators of intelligence. If an individual was of high social standing, they would be more intelligent than those of a lower position. However he failed to show any consistency across the tests for this hypothesis, weakening his theory that social class correlated with intelligence. Nevertheless, his creation of the intelligence test led many to continue to develop...
Throughout the course of history many people in time had no idea that many creatures of life had brains. With remarkable breakthroughs in technology and through human ability to take pictures of the human brain through head scans, scientists have discovered and mapped out the human brain. As neuroscientists understand how the brain works, discovery of brain-based learning has been a growing field ever since. Education is extremely important for human beings because the more educated we are as a society the better we contribute to society. Knowledge is extremely powerful and as a future educator, understanding how the brain works and developing lesson plans surrounding the inner workings of the brain will allow learning to manifest in the classroom.
The ongoing debate on whether nature or nurture is responsible for intelligence seems to be a never-ending argument. There will probably be no definite answer to this argument any time soon, but answers such as Dr. Bigot's prove how intolerant of other opinions people can be. To say intelligence is entirely based on genetics, or one's environment, for that matter, is utterly extremist. An interaction of both nature and nurture is responsible for intelligence.
The Oxford Dictionary defines intelligence as “the ability acquire and apply knowledge and skills.” Many people are born naturally intelligent, able to grasp and understand concepts easily, with little work. In children, it is easy to separate those born with higher intellectual ability from the rest, because they easily excel in learning. This skill is often lost by those born with it, and through a great deal of work others attain it. In order for an individual to have true intelligence into her adult years, she must foster what gifts she is given, and strive to better her self academically. Even as early as elementary school, many who are born with natural talent begin to fall behind intellectually. These students are often not