How to Correctly Praise Children to Foster Growth Mindset | Dr. Andrew Huberman

Summary

The video script discusses a groundbreaking study by Dr. Carol Dweck and Claudia Mueller, which revealed the impact of different types of praise on children's motivation and performance. The study found that praising intelligence undermined children's motivation to take on challenges and lowered their subsequent performance. In contrast, praising effort motivated children to embrace more difficult tasks and significantly improved their performance over time. The findings highlight the importance of praising the process rather than innate abilities, as it cultivates a growth mindset and fosters continuous learning and improvement.

Takeaways

• 🔑 A study by Carol Dweck and Claudia Mueller found that praising children for intelligence can undermine their motivation and performance, while praising them for effort can improve their motivation and performance.
• 🧠 Children who received intelligence praise (e.g., being told they are smart or talented) tended to choose easier tasks to continue receiving that praise, while children who received effort praise chose more challenging tasks to continue being praised for their effort.
• 📈 Children praised for effort outperformed those praised for intelligence by a large margin.
• 🚫 Praising children for intelligence (e.g., telling them they are smart) caused their performance to decline, while praising them for effort increased their performance.
• 💬 The narratives and feedback we receive from others reinforce certain patterns of behavior.
• 👪 Parents and teachers should be careful about giving feedback that is attached to a child's identity, especially when they are performing well.
• 🌟 Rewarding oneself or others based on effort is the best way to improve performance, while rewarding based on identity labels (e.g., "you're so talented") can undermine performance.
• 💪 Effort praise (e.g., "you tried really hard," "you persisted") focuses on the actions and choices made by the child, rather than labeling them with an identity.
• 🎯 Effort praise encourages children to pick challenges that allow them to exert effort and learn, while intelligence praise leads them to pick tasks they can already perform well on.
• 🤔 The study highlights the importance of being mindful of the language and feedback we use, as it can have a significant impact on motivation, behavior, and performance.

Q & A

What is the main finding of Dr. Carol Dweck and Claudia Mueller's research on praise and motivation in children?

The main finding is that praising children for intelligence can undermine their motivation and performance, whereas praising them for effort can enhance their motivation and performance.

How does intelligence feedback affect children's choice of tasks according to the study?

Children who received intelligence feedback tended to choose easier tasks that they knew they could perform well on, to continue receiving praise for being smart or talented.

What type of feedback did the study compare intelligence feedback to?

The study compared intelligence feedback to effort feedback, which focuses on the child's attempt and perseverance rather than innate ability.

What behavior does effort feedback encourage in children?

Effort feedback encourages children to choose harder problems that could teach them more, indicating a preference for challenges and learning.

What were the outcomes measured in the study regarding the types of feedback given to children?

The study measured the children's choice of task difficulty, their raw performance on cognitive problems, and how these aspects were affected by the type of praise they received.

How did children's performance change after receiving intelligence praise versus effort praise?

Children who received intelligence praise showed a significant decrease in performance on subsequent tasks, while those who received effort praise showed a significant improvement.

What does the study suggest about the impact of praise on reinforcing certain behaviors in children?

The study suggests that the type of praise children receive reinforces specific behaviors; intelligence praise reinforces seeking validation, while effort praise reinforces engaging in and learning from challenging activities.

What implication does this research have for parents and teachers in giving feedback?

It implies that parents and teachers should carefully consider the type of feedback they give, emphasizing effort and process over innate intelligence or talent to foster better learning and performance.

What does the study reveal about the role of narratives from others in reinforcing behavior patterns in children?

The study reveals that narratives from others, such as praise, significantly reinforce certain behavior patterns in children, affecting their choices and performance.

How does self-affirmation based on identity labels potentially impact performance according to the transcript?

Self-affirmation based on identity labels, like being smart or talented, can undermine performance over time, suggesting that rewarding effort is a better strategy for improvement.