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Alright, so I have to share with you all two very interesting things with ramifications for education that I learned in personality psych this week. the first is about entity vs. incremental theorists, terms that refer to an individual's attitude to their own personality and intelligence. Most of the research in this area comes from Carol Dweck. While, like everything else, it's a continuum, basically entity theorists see their characteristics as more set and unalterable, factors out of their control. Incremental theorists, on the other hand, see themselves as able to change and improve due to their own efforts, see themselves as more malleable due to their own volition and behaviors. It has surprised me consistantly during this psych class how much of personality psychology is value judgments; I came into the class expecting more objective analyses of how we are different, but frequently it seems research indicates certain characteristics to be far preferable to others. It is like that with these theories- studies indicate that incremental theorists are both happier and more successful. While, curiously, there is no research that proves that incremental theorists actually *do* change more, simply the belief that it is possible leads them to work harder, take more pride in their accomplishments, and to be inspired to greater heights rather than discouraged by failure. (reminds me of what we said about which is more valuable in empirical experiments- success or failure.) They maintain self-esteem better and seek out challenges. All just the sort of qualities desirable for inquisitive and engaged students.

These different attitudes prove to be primable, both in the short-term and in the long-term. In studies, having participants read articles insisting upon either the inherent stability of traits or the personality as changeable provokes the behavior of the corresponding mind-set. In the long-term, and here's where it gets truly interesting, the sort of praise you give children affects how they grow up to see their lives. According to Dweck, you should always stress that achievements and generally positive behavior stem not from inherent qualities in the child but from their efforts to work hard/do the right thing. "Your paper was really good, it is clear you worked very hard on it" rather than "you did really well; you're very smart and gifted with words." Children grow up feeling more responsible for their own success, and inspired to continue to work towards goals. I was skeptical for awhile during class, but by the end I found all the research very compelling. There's a lot more out there.

  The other thing had to do even more directly with the question brought up in class of how much knowing about the workings of the brain can help teachers and students. More research from Dweck found, interestingly, higher levels of achievement from those students who *were* taught about how their brain learns, strenghthening synapses as it gathers and retains information and connections. One student in my psych class said she'd actually had a teacher in elementary who'd stressed brain function in learning with positive results. Her motto had been "alright, let's build some dendrites today." Apparently there's something to it. :)