A school ran a six-week trial. One group of pupils received effort praise, such as "You worked very hard", after completing classwork. A second group received person praise, such as "You are very smart". Both groups were taught the same lessons.
The school recorded the percentage of pupils choosing an optional difficult task and the mean score on matched tests.
| Type of praise | Choosing the difficult task before (%) | Choosing the difficult task after (%) | Mean test score before (%) | Mean test score after (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Effort praise | 35 | 62 | 56 | 60 |
| Person praise | 37 | 39 | 57 | 61 |
The school concluded, "Effort praise raised pupils' test achievement by creating a growth mindset."
Evaluate the school's conclusion using Dweck's mindset theory and the results in the table.
104 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Psychology 2.2 Theories/Explanations, covering 2.2.1 Piaget's four invariant stages, 2.2.2 Assimilation and accommodation, 2.2.3 Object permanence, animism, egocentrism, 2.2.4 Decentration, reversibility, conservation; criticisms, 2.2.5 Cognitive Development research study: Piaget (1952), 2.2.6 Dweck's fixed and growth mindsets, 2.2.7 Willingham's learning styles and meaning; criticisms, and 2.2.8 Learning research study: Blackwell et al. (2007). Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.