Analysis Of Carol Dweck 's Article ' Brainology '

In school, at the stores, anywhere, there are two types of people that can be encountered. What makes these two types of people different is their mindsets. One type has the mindset of a pessimist; they think they cannot do certain tasks and are afraid of looking stupid. The other type has the mindset of an optimist; they always try new things and are not scared to do so. In the article “Brainology” by Carol S. Dweck, she states that there are two different mindsets that people can possess, either a fixed mindset (pessimist) or a growth mindset (optimist); these mindsets are developed at a young age and will influence a person’s choices and opportunities.

Sophomore year instead of trying out for the team, the night before I walked up to my dad and said I don’t want to play basketball anymore. Just like that I had given up and quit on something that I could’ve just put a little work into and would’ve been great. A fixed mindset has a serious impediment on a student's learning. Students who don't apply themselves to their school work won't be able to adapt to school as it increasingly becomes more difficult. Throughout my life, I’ve had both fixed and growth mindset, but after reading Dweck’s Mindset, I have learned about how I can apply the growth mindset into my life and improve myself all around. My mindset is all about how much I want to apply myself. If I put my all into everything, I can do nothing but grow into an astonishing human being. Applying the growth mindset into relationships by being more forbearing with people. Being open to different business strategies and merging ideas together or to simply have faith in yourself when things go wrong. Mindset is all about how much you want something and if you put your all into something success will

High school is an important time for developing a sense of who you are as a person. Each kid who starts out high school will usually asks themselves what they are there to accomplish. For the most part, many set personal goals for themselves and strive to achieve above and beyond. However, some are just there for the experience and to see where it takes them. It’s apparent that some kids have an easier time and don’t have to struggle with their high school career. For example, some of the students have followed strong academic paths that have prepared them for this time in their lives, where as others have struggled with educational influences and feel unprepared or lost. Swerdlow mentions that the students, who attend J.E.B. Stuart, are given many chances to improve their educational foundation in order to

In regards to learning, students with the mentality have a theory that everyone was born with a certain IQ; smart folks were naturally born smart, and the imbecile ones were forever imbecile. In fact, students who possess a fixed mindset would falsely believe that they are not smart enough to complete difficult tasks, or to fulfill class's expectation (Dweck 1). This creates anxiety whenever students encounter academic tasks. Eventually, being fearful leads to failure in achieving one's mission. Dweck further asserts “This means that every time something is hard for them and requires effort, it's both a threat and a bind. If they work hard at it that means that they aren't good at it, but if they don't work hard they won't do well.” (Dweck 2). She points out that a fixed-minded person would think that if one is smart enough, then one would not have to go through any hardships, and that seeing a task as being difficult meaning one lacks the capability to achieve it. In broader sense, this trait generates a negative-thinking mentality and hence discourages students to exploit their academic potential. Fixed mindset, therefore, is not a trait that students would want to develop. What Dweck is trying to promote, in the article, is encouraging students to steer their ways of thinking to that of growth mindset

David Dobbs in the Article “Beautiful Brains” proves the theme that it takes teenage brains longer to mature due to the recent change in impulsivity and adolescent behaviors.

I’m going to tell you how student learn these mindsets. In the 90s parents thought the most important thing that you child should have was self-esteem. But were they messed up is that you cant just hand your kids self-esteem. They took a poll among parents and found that 85% of parents thought that it was necessary to “praise” their children’s abilities to boost confidence. Now were going to talk about growth mindset. These students believe that intelligence is something that can be gained through education and effort. I wish in high school that I would of taken it more serious because now I could have had a growth mindset witch would of helped me out a lot in college. Those students have growth mindsets. They believe that you can gain intelligence through learning. Those with a growth mindset had a very straightforward idea of effort. The idea that the harder you work the greater the outcome is and I think that’s true. When these students had a set back in school they simply just study more or differently next time. That was my biggest set back in high school. Many bright students find grade school fairly easy and get right through it. But later on in life like in college they struggle. They don’t want to put the time into something and feel dumb when they get a bad grade on it. That’s bad because you should never feel dumb about something that you tried your hardest to complete. I hope that this information was helpful

Have you ever thought about the choices that you have made in the past and how they have affected you as an individual? Truth is, as people grow and develop they each have their own way of thinking about what they can do or what they can learn. All of this is happening in the brain, and each person has a different way of thinking, learning, and solving problems. The study of the brain is a real puzzle that to this day, it is still unsolved. There’s study is known as Brainology, it has to do with a person 's mindset, and the idea of having a fixed or growth mindset. In the article “Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn” by Carol S. Dweck, she talks about different ways that our mind can be influenced and how by saying

Basically, individuals with a fixed mindset often feel measured by a failure, sometimes permanently. Unfortunately, failed attempts are viewed as a label rather than an opportunity to plan a new path of succes. On the other hand, an individual with a growth mindset views a failed attempt as an opportunity to take action, to confront obstacles, to keep up with their schoolwork, and/or to better manage and organize their time. Growth mindset individuals believe that qualities can be developed, expanded, and eventually result in a successful outcome. A second lesson learned is the power of labels and the stereotype of ability; this lesson is undoubtedly one of the most enlightening. Dweck discovered in one of her studies that, “... ability praise often pushed students right into a fixed mindset, and they showed all the signs of it too. When we gave them a choice, they rejected a challenging new task that they could learn from. They didn’t want to do anything that could expose their flaws and call into question their talent” (72). One’s mindset determines their reaction to labels and stereotypes. An individual with a fixed mindset will settle for a positive label and chose stagnation and permanent inferiority rather than risk losing the label; whereas,

I read the article, “Secrets of the Brain”, found in the February 2014 issue of National Geographic written by Carl Zimmer. I chose this subject because I have been fascinated with the brain and how it works. The research of the brain has been ongoing for many centuries now. The history in this article is interesting. It explained how scientists used to understand the brain and its inner workings. For example, “in the ancient world physicians believed that the brain was made of phlegm. Aristotle looked on it as a refrigerator, cooling of the fiery heart. From his time through the Renaissance, anatomists declared with great authority that our perceptions, emotions, reasoning, and actions were all the result of “animal spirits”—mysterious, unknowable vapors that swirled through cavities in our head and traveled through our bodies.” (Zimmer, p. 38)

When it comes to the topic of having a growth mindset, most of us will readily agree that students who are praised are motivated to learn. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of how they are praised. Whereas some are convinced that praising students for their intelligence will motivate them to learn, others maintain that encouraging them for their efforts has a better impact on their motivation.

In the feature article “Brainology”, the author, Carol Dweck explains that there are consequences of praising children for their work, they is also different types of mindsets that enable a person’s development. She focuses on two types of mindsets. The first mindset is fixed where a person believes that if she or he is smart, they don’t need to put effort to be successful. The author explains on page 3 of the article that sometimes society encourages this mindset by using words such as smart , intelligent which sometimes creates confidence , however, when the assignment gets difficult then a fixed mindset person loses confidence so they stop working hard to complete the task. The second mindset is when a person believes that working hard to

Ah, high school. The only place where people can see a person’s future change in an instant. Just like pages in the book no human has ever read and remembered, what experiences we had in high school can never be replicated. Our minds change in high school and because of these changes we only experience what we interpret as good and bad never truly knowing what could have been if we had only changed one word in a sentence or the facial expressions we made. This is true not in just high school but in adult life itself.

W., Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., Baumert, J., & Köller, O. (2007). The big-fish-little-pond effect: Persistent negative effects of selective high schools on self-concept after graduation. American Educational Research Journal, 44, 631. doi: 10.3102/0002831207306728

The PBS special "The Secret Life of the Brain" took us through all different aspects of the brain and its formation through life. These five movies taught us that the brain is plastic and is always changing, cutting unused neurons and filling with different ideas and thoughts that you learn from your environment. The five videos go through the five stages of life; baby, child, teenager, adult and finally the aging brain.

In a Douglass College commencement speech titled “Claiming an Education” Adrienne Rich proclaimed, “The difference between a life lived actively, and a life of passive drifting and dispersal of energies, is an immense difference. Once we begin to feel committed to our lives, responsible to ourselves, we can never again be satisfied with the old, passive way” (4).