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Mental Throwdown: Effort vs. Intelligence What’s your opinion about intelligence? Do you think people are born with their basic level of intelligence, or do you think people can actually learn to be smart? Think carefully! Your answer is important, because according to psychologists at Stanford and Columbia Universities 1 , how you think about intelligence can affect your academic success. In 2007, these psychologists were curious as to why students with relatively equal abilities, could have very different academic outcomes. Why do some students thrive in school, but others struggle, they wondered? Why do some enjoy the challenge of learning, yet others do their best to avoid it? Their study lead to an interesting discovery about intelligence. They found that a student’s belief about the nature of intelligence can have a big impact on their achievement in school. Generally, students who believe that intelligence can be developed and grown do better in school than students who believe that intelligence is fixed trait – something they are born with and can’t significantly alter or improve. Let's take a closer look at this notion and find out if your personal opinion about intelligence is helping or hindering your success in school.
CHAPTER 4
PRODUCT PREVIEW
Learning Goals By the end of this chapter you will be able to: 1. Identify as a growth or fixed mindset learner. 2. List the traits of growth mindset learners. 3. Compare the roles of effort, intelligence and experience in learning.
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