Smart Strategy: Think of the Brain as
a Muscle
By
Charles
Q. Choi
Special to LiveScience
Students
who are told they can get smarter if they
train their brains
to be stronger, like a muscle, do better
in school, a new psychology study shows.
Many people have various theories about
the nature of intelligence.
Some view it as a fixed trait, while others
see intelligence as a quality that can
develop and expand.
These ideas have can have a profound effect
on the motivation to learn,
said researcher Carol Dweck, a child and
social psychologist at Stanford University.
"Those who follow a fixed theory
are concerned with whether they look smart
or dumb.
They don't enjoy tasks that are difficult,
where if they have a setback they can
look dumb," Dweck explained. "Those
who think intelligence is something you
can cultivate are much more interested
in being challenged than in just looking
smart. They are much more resilient and
persistent, and not as worried about making
mistakes."
* Mysteries
of the Mind
Dweck had an experience in 6th grade in
Brooklyn that made her want to understand
with views people held on intelligence.
"My teacher seated us around the
room in IQ
order," she told LiveScience. "All
the responsibilities were assigned to
high-IQ students. Looking back, I always
enjoyed learning before, but the experience
in that class wasn't about learning, it
was about feeling like you had to always
look smart or get demoted to one of the
lesser seats."
"Working in that fixed framework
had a profound influence on me,"
Dweck said. "It was one where intelligence
was equated with worth."
To see what effects different theories
of intelligence had on schoolwork, Dweck
and her colleagues followed 373 New York
City 12-year-olds over a course of two
years of junior high school. While all
the students began the study with roughly
the same math achievement test scores,
those with a fixed mindset did worse in
math, with the gap widening over the years.
"When you have a fixed view, you
kind of run away from mistakes and setbacks,
since you think they mean you're not smart,"
Dweck said. "The fixed view doesn't
give students a good way to repair their
deficiencies. If you believe your ability
is permanently fixed, and you don't do
well, there's no good route to come back
from that."
* Video:
Brain-Healing Bridges
The researchers then took junior high
school students who did poorly in math
and divided them into two groups. Both
were introduced to workshops that built
study skills, but one experimental group
also went through an eight-week program
that described the brain as like a muscle,
"and the more it was used, the stronger
it got," Dweck said.
"We taught them that the brain forms
new connections every time they applied
themselves and learned," she explained.
"It gave them a new model of how
their minds
worked, and how they had control of their
brains
and could make it work better.
The idea is to free them from the tyranny
of fear of looking dumb. The name of the
game is learning."
The experimental group showed a significant
rebound in math grades, the researchers
report in the latest issue of the journal
Child Development.
"There was one particular boy who
we couldn't get to sit still, yet when
he started hearing about the brain
and how you can make neurons grow, we
thought we saw tears in his eyes. He looked
up at us and said, 'You mean I don't have
to be dumb?'" Dweck recalled.
"From that day forward he applied
himself to schoolwork," she said.
"He was one of the first students
the teachers mentioned as never doing
homework before, but who now brought it
in early to get it checked over. He was
studying for tests and moving his grades
from Cs and Ds to B+."
Dweck and her colleagues have developed
a computer-based version of their workshop
they have now tried out in 20 New York
City schools. "We still have to upgrade
the technology and revise it based on
feedback from students, but it was really
a great success," Dweck said. "We're
really excited about making this more
available."