RESEARCH_FILE
Carol S. Dweck
Stanford University
Known for:Implicit theories of intelligence — how believing ability is fixed or malleable shapes motivation and achievement
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“I've read this line five times and none of it is going in”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“Rereading the same line five times isn't a knowledge gap, it's an attention gap. Different fix.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Close the book, cover the paragraph, and say it back out loud in your own words for two minutes; note the exact sentence where you go blank.
Key findings
- 1988
With Ellen Leggett, proposed that implicit theories of ability drive distinct response patterns: viewing ability as fixed orients people toward proving themselves and helpless responses to setbacks, while viewing it as malleable orients them toward learning and mastery. A Social-Cognitive Approach to Motivation and Personality ↗
- 2007
In a two-year longitudinal study of 373 seventh graders, believing intelligence is malleable predicted an upward math-grade trajectory while believing it fixed predicted a flat one — and a brief intervention teaching the malleable view improved classroom motivation and reversed a grade decline. Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention ↗