Blackwell, Trzesniewski and Dweck (2007)

BLACKWELL

aim - to test the impact of growth and fixed mindsets

Study One

• hypothesis - there will be a relationship between seventh grade students' theories of intellligence - fixed or growth mindsets - and their achievement grades on a standardised maths test. 
• This study can be considered a correlational field study. It was conducted in a natual enviroment (their school in NYC) and correlations were used to assess the relationship between beliefs about intelligence and acievement grades in maths
• sample - 373 students (198 female and 175 males) from the seventh grade. It was a varied etthnicity, 205 were african american, 101 were south asian, 56 hispanic and 11 east asian and european american.
• materials - scores on a standardised maths achievement test, which was taken in the spring term of sixth grade, theory of intelligence, learning goals, effort beliefs and helpless responses to failure
• procedure - at the begginning of the seventh grade participants completed the motivational questionnaire. They were made aware that their participantion was entirely volentary and they had the right to withdraw.
• results - beliefs about intelligence at the beginning of seventh grade did not correlate significantly with maths test scores. However, by the spring term of…