Two groups of Year 8 pupils took part in six-week French vocabulary workshops. One group was taught that the brain changes when people learn, and their teacher wrote comments such as "You kept testing yourself on the words you got wrong, and it's paying off." The other group was taught about memory, and their teacher kept writing comments such as "Brilliant, you've clearly got a gift for languages." Before and after the workshops, pupils were asked whether they would choose a more difficult vocabulary exercise after getting an answer wrong. Their French vocabulary quiz scores were also recorded.
| Group | Said they would choose a more difficult exercise before | Said they would choose a more difficult exercise after | Mean quiz score before (out of 20) | Mean quiz score after (out of 20) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brain workshop | 34% | 62% | 10 | 14 |
| Memory workshop | 36% | 40% | 10 | 11 |
Using Dweck's mindset theory, explain the differences between the two groups' results.
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.