Lecture 11: Why has Koestner pushed so hard on the theory that talent has little to do with expertise? Flashcards
Theories to Support Ability
Praise
Self-efficacy… confidence… leads to motivation and focus
Expectancy.. leads to self-fulfilling prophecy
Reinforcement…praise is social reinforcement
According to Carole Dweck, Yes ability praise positive in the short-term, but less in the long-term
Doesn’t prepare kids to climb the learning curve, face difficulty
Research support;
My PhD thesis;
Mueller and Dweck
Study Design:
128 fifth graders from rural and inner-city schools.
50% Caucasian, 19% African American, and 31% Hispanic.
3 sets of problems, each containing 10 Standard Progressive
Matrices.
All children received success feedback after first set of problems.
“Wow, you did very well on these problems. You got x number
right. That’s a really high score.”
Difficult matrices
No matter what their actual score, all children were told that
they had solved at least 80% of the problems that they
answered.
1/3 also told “You must be smart at these problems.“ (praise)
1/3 also told “You must have worked hard at these problems.” (performance feedback)
The remaining children received no add. feedback.
Achievement goals were measured after they
had worked on the first set of (success)
matrices and received feedback.
“problems that I’m pretty good at, so I can
show that I’m smart.“
“problems that I’ll learn a lot from, even if I
won’t look so smart,”
After a second,
difficult trial, children
rated on 1-6 scales:
Desire to persist
Task enjoyment
Attributions for their poor performance on
the second set of problems were then
assessed.
lack of effort (“I didn’t work hard enough”),
lack of ability (“I’m not smart enough”),
The “Bottom-Line” Results.
Performance on third set of problems
(matched to be the same level of difficulty as
the original set) was then measured
Those in praise ability condition not enjoying when more difficult and not persistent
As compared to those in control condition and those in effort praise condition (the effort condition group also improved!)
We should focus on effort and process rather than ability and giftedness
Kids in the ability condition exaggerated how well they did
And they wanted to know how the others did (to compare themselves)
Must believe that abilities are malleable
How does this relate to E & C’s
theory of deliberate practice?
Abilities are learnt! Malleable! Not innate
Need deliberate practice
Can we teach children to
change their beliefs about
ability?
Math Performance in Junior High as a
function of malleability beliefs.
100 students doing poorly in math were
targeted for study skills intervention.
Two types of intervention:
Traditional study skills
Traditional study skills + Growth Mindset
intervention
“Learned that the brain actually forms new
connections every time you learn
something new, and that over time this
makes you smarter.”
Results: math grades went up post-intervention for the experimental group
Changing the Way We Teach
Math:
A Canadian Innovation
J(unior)
U(nidentified)
M(ath)
P(rodigy)
JUMP Math, John Mighton
“Almost every kid — and I mean virtually
every kid — can learn math at a very high
level, to the point where they could do
university level math courses. If you ask why
that’s not happening, it’s because very early
in school many kids get the idea that they’re
not in the smart group, especially in math.
We kind of force a choice on them: to decide
that either they’re dumb or math is dumb.”
Confidence
The foundation of the process is building
confidence, which Mighton believes should be the
first goal of a math teacher. Confidence begets
attention, which begets rich learning. “I’ve never
met a teacher who will tell you that a student
doesn’t need to be confident to excel in school,”
“But I’ve never seen a math curriculum that
follows the implications of that idea rigorously.”
Math is well-suited to build confidence. Teachers
can reduce things to tiny steps, gauge the size of
each step to the student and raise the bar
incrementally.
Micro-Steps
Teachers tell me that when they begin using
Jump they are surprised to discover that what
they were teaching as one step may contain as
many as seven micro steps. Breaking things
down this finely allows a teacher to identify the
specific point at which a student may need
help. “No step is too small to ignore,” Mighton
says. “Math is like a ladder. If you miss a step,
sometimes you can’t go on. And then you start
losing your confidence and then the hierarchies
develop. It’s all interconnected.”
When did it, grades grew
Questions for Dweck
Isn’t it naive to believe that everyone has the
potential to change?
For example, some people just cannot draw
very well
Prof vs. his daughter
Daughter is much better at self-portrait
But she has much more experience
Examples of what training
can do:
Betty Edwards,
“Drawing on the right
side of the brain.”
People learned to draw self-portraits properly and in 1 month improved a ton
Dweck Quotes:
“We never know
exactly what
someone is capable
of with the right
support from the
environment and the
right degree of
personal motivation
and commitment.”
I can’t do it… yet
Recent Comments by Ericsson
(2007) on genetic factors:
“Intense and sustained training activity produces
biochemical side products that trigger the activation
of dormant genes in the athletes DNA which in turn
initiate anatomical changes..”
“Healthy children appear to have the prerequisite
genes as part of their DNA but few engage in the
type, intensity, and duration of required practice that
would achieve the desired adaptation.”
John Mighton 2012 New York
Times
“Almost every kid – and I mean virtually every kid –
can learn math at a very high level, to the point
where they could do University-level math
courses…If you ask why that’s not happening, its
because very early in school many kids get the
idea that they’re not in the smart group, especially
in math. We kind of force a choice on them: to
decide whther they’re dumb or math is dumb.”
