Students that classify as having growth mindsets rather than fixed mindsets enjoy greater academic success. This finding has been repeated in a variety of contexts and encourages teachers and researchers to develop growth mindsets in students. However, neutral and negative conclusions from some mindset intervention studies raise questions about…

Background: Beliefs about the malleability of intelligence (fixed or growth mindsets) are strongly influenced by teachers and parents. However, the social contagion of mindsets among one's classmates has not been given sufficient attention. Aims: This study aimed to examine the social contagion of mindsets among one's peers by investigating the…

In a recent publication in the Journal of Intelligence, Dennis McFarland mischaracterized previous research using latent variable and psychometric network modeling to investigate the structure of intelligence. Misconceptions presented by McFarland are identified and discussed. We reiterate and clarify the goal of our previous research on network…

The current study investigated whether a brief refutation text intervention could change college students' misconceptions about the malleability of their intelligence and abilities. Students from a 2-year college and a 4-year university in a large urban city in the Northeastern United States participated in experimental and control conditions. A…

Students' beliefs about their ability to improve their intelligence (known as mindset) likely have more impact on their academic outcomes when engaging in challenging learning environments, such as introductory undergraduate chemistry courses. To date, little research has been conducted on the chemistry-specific aspects of intelligence which…

In this article, we describe a researcher-practitioner partnership (RPP) that used a networked improvement community (NIC) approach to translate social-psychological interventions into educational practices to enhance student motivation and learning. Specifically, we highlight one of our first collaborative projects to develop and scale up an…

The Mindset Assessment Profile is a popular questionnaire purportedly designed to measure mindset--an individual's belief in whether intelligence is malleable or stable. Despite its widespread use, the questionnaire appears to assess an individual's need for cognition and goal orientation more than mindset. We assessed the reliability, construct…

Dropout from engineering studies has been linked to 'fixed mindset' beliefs of intelligence as fixed-at-birth that make students more likely to disengage when facing new challenges. In contrast, 'growth mindset' beliefs that intelligence can be improved with effort make students more likely to persist when confronting difficulties. This systematic…

The growth mindset or the belief that intelligence is malleable has garnered significant attention for its positive association with academic success. Several recent randomized trials, including the National Study of Learning Mindsets (NSLM), have been conducted to understand why, for whom, and under what contexts a growth mindset intervention can…

Epistemological beliefs can be defined shortly as beliefs about the source, certainty, organization of knowledge, and beliefs on ability and speed of learning. Word association tests (WAT) are practical alternative assessment and evaluation tools that can reveal students' thoughts on different concepts. In this regard, this research aims to…

Human beings have tremendous potential to acquire new knowledge, develop new skills, and improve their brains throughout life. By explicitly teaching learners about brain plasticity and malleable intelligence (the idea that they can become functionally smarter through effort) and by modeling and teaching specific learning strategies, teachers can…

Adult performance of high ability individuals has seldom been researched. Current results suggest that adult excellence occurs at lower rates than high ability individuals identified in their infancy or youth, with few cases of high intellectual abilities among adults that yield excellence products. This paper focuses on the analysis of the…

Implicit theories of intelligence (i.e., individuals' beliefs about the nature of intelligence, such as whether it is fixed or changeable) are important because they are related to individuals' behaviors and their beliefs in other areas (Sternberg, 2000). Implicit theories of intelligence are especially important in educational settings because…

The authors examined the relative criterion-related validity of knowledge structure coherence and two accuracy-based indices (closeness and correlation) as well as the utility of using a combination of knowledge structure indices in the prediction of skill acquisition and transfer. Findings from an aggregation of 5 independent samples (N = 958)…

Motivating students is a central challenge for many teachers, particularly in subjects students commonly perceive as "impenetrable," such as statistics. One line of motivation research by C.S. Dweck (2006) has found that when students believe their intelligence is malleable (i.e., a growth mindset) and that learning is a function of effort, they…