Of those praised for their effort, 90 percent chose the harder set of puzzles. Of those praised for their intelligence, a majority chose the easy test. The �smart� kids took the cop-out.
Is the �majority� that chose the easy test closer to 51% or 90%? This study (or this article) seems to be written as if the authors really want to make their point.
In any case, I do agree with the assertions. But hadn�t the conclusion that vacuous praise can lead to fear of failure been widely accepted by psychologists decades ago?
But a growing body of research�and a new study from the trenches of the New York public-school system�strongly suggests it might be the other way around. Giving kids the label of �smart� does not prevent them from underperforming. It might actually be causing it.
Is this information really just being �discovered� by the education professionals?
