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Compendium Of Studies That Measure Learning Mindsets Section
Section 1: Growth Mindset
Table 3: Additional Sample Information, Sample Survey Measure/s, and Response Scale/s
Instructions: Click “EXPAND” below to see more about the sample, survey item/s, and response scale/s used in each paper, as well as the DOI or free online version link where available.
† Indicates author is affiliated with Student Experience Research Network as a scholar or an early career fellow or mentor.
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & †Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Child development, 78(1), 246-263.
Additional Sample Information
7th graders
Sample Survey Item/s
Six items were used: three entity statements and three incremental theory statements. The incremental theory items were reverse scored and a mean theory of intelligence score was calculated for the six items, with the low end (1) representing a pure entity theory, and the high end (6) agreement with an incremental theory.
- Sample entity theory statement: You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you really can’t do much to change it.
- Sample incremental theory statement: You can always greatly change how intelligent you are.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (6)
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Dweck, C.S. (1999). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
†Broda, M., et al. (2018). Reducing inequality in academic success for incoming college students: A randomized trial of growth mindset and belonging interventions. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 11(3), 317-338.
Additional Sample Information
1st year students at large midwestern university (MSU)
Sample Survey Item/s
You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic intelligence
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (6)
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Hong, Y. Y., Chiu, C. Y., Dweck, C. S., Lin, D. M. S., & Wan, W. (1999). Implicit theories, attributions, and coping: a meaning system approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(3), 588-599
Cain, K. M., & †Dweck, C. S. (1995). The relation between motivational patterns and achievement cognitions through the elementary school years. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly.
Additional Sample Information
Sample included 1st, 3rd & 5th graders
- 1/3 of students were in small midwestern city
- 2/3 were in semi rural community by the city
Sample Survey Items
How smart you are is something about you that you can’t change very much.
Response Scale
After each question, the child was asked “Is this true? Does this sound right to you?” When the child answered yes or no, the child was shown a 3 point scale corresponding to their choice:
- Yes: 1 (That sounds really right) to 3 (That sounds a little bit right)
- No: 1 (That sounds really wrong) to 3 (That sounds a little bit wrong)
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Henderson, V. L. & Dweck, C. S. (1990). Motivation and achievement. In S.S. Feldman & G.R. Elliott (Eds.), At the threshold: The developing adolescent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Dweck, C. S. & Henderson, V. L. (1987). Theories of intelligence: Background and measures. Unpublished manuscript, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.
Canning, E. A., Muenks, K., Green, D. J., & †Murphy, M. C. (2019). STEM faculty who believe ability is fixed have larger racial achievement gaps and inspire less student motivation in their classes. Science advances, 5(2), eaau4734.
Additional Sample Information
STEM faculty at large selective public university
Sample Survey Item/s
- To be honest, students have a certain amount of intelligence, and they really can’t do much to change it.
- Your intelligence is something about you that you can’t change very much.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (6) to Strongly agree (1)
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Chen, J. A. (2012). Implicit theories, epistemic beliefs, and science motivation: A person-centered approach. Learning and Individual Differences, 22(6), 724-735.
Additional Sample Information
Sample Survey Item/s
Items for entity theory of science ability:
- You have a certain amount of science ability, and you really can’t do much to change it.
- Your science ability is something about you that you can’t change very much.
Item for incremental theory of science ability:
- No matter who you are, you can change your science abilities a lot.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Complete disagreement (6) to Complete agreement (1)
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Chen, J. A. & Pajares, F. (2010). Implicit Theories of Ability of Grade 6 Science Students: Relation to Epistemological Beliefs and Academic Motivation and Achievement in Science. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 35(1), 75-87.
Dweck C.S. (1999). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
Chen, J. A. & Pajares, F. (2010). Implicit Theories of Ability of Grade 6 Science Students: Relation to Epistemological Beliefs and Academic Motivation and Achievement in Science. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 35(1), 75-87.
Additional Sample Information
6th grade science students attending a large urban public middle school in the southeast
Sample Survey Item/s
Items for entity theory of science ability:
- You have a certain amount of science ability, and you really can’t do much to change it.
- Your science ability is something about you that you can’t change very much.
Item for incremental theory of science ability:
- No matter who you are, you can change your science abilities a lot.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Complete disagreement (6) to Complete agreement (1)
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Chen, J. A. (2012). Implicit theories, epistemic beliefs, and science motivation: A person-centered approach. Learning and Individual Differences, 22(6), 724-735.
Dweck C.S. (1999). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
Claro, S., †Paunesku, D., & †Dweck, C. S. (2016). Growth mindset tempers the effects of poverty on academic achievement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(31), 8664-8668.
Additional Sample Information
10th grade high school students from Chile
Sample Survey Item/s
You can learn new things, but you can’t change a person’s intelligence.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (6) to Strongly agree (1)
Additional source(s) for survey measure
†Destin, M., †Hanselman, P., Buontempo, J., †Tipton, E., & †Yeager, D. S. (2019). Do Student Mindsets Differ by Socioeconomic Status and Explain Disparities in Academic Achievement in the United States?. AERA Open, 5(3).
Additional Sample Information
A nationally representative sample of 9th graders
Sample Survey Item/s
Your intelligence is something about you that you can’t change very much.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (6)
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Paunesku, D., Walton, G. M., Romero, C., Smith, E. N., Yeager. D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2015). Mind-set interventions are a scalable treatment for academic underachievement. Psychological Science, 26(6):784-93.
Yeager, D. S., Romero, C., Paunesku, D., Hulleman, C. S., Schneider, B., Hinojosa, C., … & Trott, J. (2016). Using design thinking to improve psychological interventions: The case of the growth mindset during the transition to high school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(3), 374-410.
Good, C., Aronson, J., & Inzlicht, M. (2003). Improving adolescents’ standardized test performance: An intervention to reduce the effects of stereotype threat. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 24(6), 645-662.
Additional Sample Information
7th graders in a rural school district in Texas that serves largely students from families experiencing economic disadvantage
Sample Survey Item/s
Response Scale
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Gunderson, E. A., et al. (2013). Parent praise to 1‐to 3‐year‐olds predicts children’s motivational frameworks 5 years later. Child development, 84(5), 1526-1541.
Additional Sample Information
- Children were first observed at 14, 26, and 38 months, and followed up with with them they were 7-8 years old.
- When children were 7–8 years old, parents’ implicit theories about the malleability of cognitive abilities were measured using an eight-item questionnaire.
Sample Survey Item/s
- Children: How much would you like to do mazes that are very hard so you can learn more about doing mazes?
- Caregivers:
- Ability beliefs: People have a certain amount of intelligence, and they can’t really do much to change it
- STEM-specific ability beliefs: Someone’s math ability is something about them that they can’t change very much
Response Scale
- Children: 5 point response scale
- Caregivers: 6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (6)
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Heyman, G. D., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Children’s thinking about traits: Implications for judgments of the self and others. Child Development, 69, 391-403.
Hong, Y. Y., Chiu, C. Y., Dweck, C. S., Lin, D. M. S., & Wan, W. (1999). Implicit theories, attributions, and coping: a meaning system approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(3), 588-599
Kinlaw, C. R., & Kurtz-Costes, B. (2007). Children’s theories of intelligence: Beliefs, goals, and motivation in the elementary years. Journal of General Psychology, 134, 295-311.
Gunderson, E. A., et al. (2018). Parent praise to toddlers predicts fourth grade academic achievement via children’s incremental mindsets. Developmental psychology, 54(3), 397-409.
HAIMOVITZ, K., & †DWECK, C. S. (2016). WHAT PREDICTS CHILDREN’S FIXED AND GROWTH INTELLIGENCE MIND-SETS? NOT THEIR PARENTS’ VIEWS OF INTELLIGENCE BUT THEIR PARENTS’ VIEWS OF FAILURE. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, 27(6), 859-869.
Additional Sample Information
- Study 1: Parent-child dyads (4th and 5th graders) from two schools in the Bay Area
- Study 2: Participants were 160 parents of students currently enrolled in any level of formal education, recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk Web site.
- Study 3a: Parent-child dyads – children were about 10 years old with an age range of 8-12
- Study 3b: Parent-child dyads (4th and 5th graders) from 3 schools in the Bay Area
- Study 4: Parents were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk Web site
Sample Survey Item/s
Parents’ failure mindsets were assessed with six items:
- Ex. The effects of failure are positive and should be utilized.
Parents’ intelligence mindsets were assessed with four items:
- Ex. You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are.
Children’s perceptions of their parents’ failure mindsets were assessed using four items:
- Ex. My parents think failure is bad and should be avoided.
Children’s perceptions of their parents’ intelligence mindsets were assessed using three items:
- Ex. My parents think you can learn new things, but you can’t change how smart you really are.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (6)
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development, 78(1), 246-263.
Haimovitz, K., †Wormington, S. V., & Corpus, J. H. (2011). Dangerous mindsets: How beliefs about intelligence predict motivational change. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(6), 747-752.
Additional Sample Information
3rd – 8th grade students from five public schools (where a range of 21-74 percent of students are from families experiencing economic disadvantage) and 3 parochial schools in Portland; serving a middle-class neighborhood.
Sample Survey Item/s
For 3rd- through 5th-grade students
- How smart you are is something about you that you can’t change very much.
For 6th- through 8th-grade students:
- How smart you are is something about you that you can’t change very much.
Response Scale
A six-point scale was used.
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Cain, K. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1995). The relation between motivational patterns and achievement cognitions through the elementary school years. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly.
Dweck, C. S. (1999). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
Heyder, A., Weidinger, A. F., †Cimpian, A., & Steinmayr, R. (2020). Teachers’ belief that math requires innate ability predicts lower intrinsic motivation among low-achieving students. Learning and Instruction, 65, 101220.
Additional Sample Information
- 4th graders (9-10 years old)
- Teachers ~3 years of experience with class; average: 44.5 years old
Sample Survey Item/s
4th graders: Not given
Teachers:
- If you want to succeed in math/German, hard work alone just won’t cut it; for that, children need to have an innate gift or talent.
- Being a top scholar of [discipline] requires a special aptitude that just can’t be taught.
Response Scale
7 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (7).
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Leslie, S. J., Cimpian, A., Meyer, M., & Freeland, E. (2015). Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines. Science, 347(6219), 262-265.
Hong, Y. Y., Chiu, C. Y., †Dweck, C. S., Lin, D. M. S., & Wan, W. (1999). Implicit theories, attributions, and coping: a meaning system approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77(3), 588-599.
Additional Sample Information
- Study 1: Undergraduate students
- Study 2: Entering university freshmen from the division of social science at a university in Hong Kong
Sample Survey Item/s
You have a certain amount of intelligence and you really can’t do much to change it.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly agree (1) to Strongly disagree (6).
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Leslie, S. J., †Cimpian, A., Meyer, M., & Freeland, E. (2015). Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines. Science, 347(6219), 262-265.
Additional Sample Information
Faculty, postdocs, grad students in STEM and the humanities
Sample Survey Item/s
Field‐specific Ability Beliefs were measured with 4 items.
- Ex. · Being a top scholar of [discipline] requires a special aptitude that just can’t be taught.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Not at all true (1) to Very true (6).
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Mueller, C. M., & †Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(1), 33-52.
Additional Sample Information
5th graders; 49% of the sample from a public elementary school in a small Midwest town & 51% of the sample from two public elementary schools in a large Northeast city.
Sample Survey Item/s
You have a certain amount of intelligence and really can’t do much to change it.
Response Scale
7 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (7).
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Dweck, C. S., Chiu, C. Y., & Hong, Y. Y. (1995). Implicit theories and their role in judgments and reactions: A world from two perspectives. Psychological Inquiry, 6, 267-285.
Dweck, C. S. (1999). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
Muradoglu, M., & †Cimpian, A. (in press). Children’s intuitive theories of academic performance. Child Development.
Additional Sample Information
Children ages 4-6
Sample Survey Item/s
“This is Kendall. And here’s something about Kendall: Kendall isn’t very good at spelling. Kendall gets a lot of spelling questions wrong on his schoolwork. I just want to make sure you were paying attention: Is Kendall good at spelling? Or not good at spelling?”
Response Scale
- For always questions (e.g., “Will it always be this way?”): a four-point scale ranging from No / Really sure (0) to Yes / Really sure (1).
- For school questions set for items A-C (e.g., “Alex was at this school for a long time. When she left this school, was she good at math or not good at math? Was she sort of good/not good, good/not good, or really good/not good”): a six-point scale ranging from Really not good (0) to Really good (1).
- For school questions set for items D-F (e.g., “Jamie was at this school for a long time. When she left this school, was she good at math or not good at math? Was she sort of good/not good, good/not good, or really good/not good?”): a six-point scale ranging from Really good (0) to Really not good (1).
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Rattan, A., Good, C. D., & †Dweck, C. S. (2012). Why do women opt out? Sense of belonging and women’s representation in mathematics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(4), 700–717.
Additional Sample Information
- Study 1: Students at a highly selective university in the Northeast were surveyed during a calculus course.
- Study 2: Students at a highly selective university were surveyed.
- Study 3: Students at a highly selective university on the East Coast were surveyed during a calculus course.
Sample Survey Item/s
Participants were presented with the question stem, “When I am in a math setting…” followed by 30 items, including:
- I feel that I belong to the math community.
- I consider myself a member of the math world.
Response Scale
8 point response scale ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (8)
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Rattan, A., Savani, K., Naidu, N. V. R., & †Dweck, C. S. (2012). Can everyone become highly intelligent? Cultural differences in and societal consequences of beliefs about the universal potential for intelligence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(5), 787-803.
Additional Sample Information
- Study 1a: 79 students from a university in Northern California (~20.5 yrs)/ 50 students in Bangalore, India (~20.8 yrs)
- Study 1b: 50 students from a university in Northern California (~19.1 yrs)/ 69 students in Bangalore, India (~22.4 yrs)
- Study 2: From mturk.com (66 US, ~37 yrs old) & (64 Indian, ~30 yrs old)
- Study 3: A total of 53 European American participants (~ 38.2 years) from a nationwide subject pool administered by a university in northern California participated in an online study for pay.
- Study 4: Participants (~ 29.9 years) from a nationwide online subject pool participated in an online study for pay.
- Study 5: From mturk.com (36.8 yrs old)
Sample Survey Item/s
- Study 1a: Participants were presented with three pairs of statements. Participants were asked to choose the one item from each pair that they believed in more.
- Ex. “Everyone has the inborn potential to become highly intelligent” versus “Not everyone has the inborn potential to become highly intelligent.”
- Study 1b: Participants were asked to rate their agreement with 2 measures
- Ex. “Every child can become an Einstein if they receive a good education and work very hard” and “Every child can become a Nobel Prize winner if they receive a good education and work very hard”
- Study 2: Do you believe that almost all newborn babies have the potential to become highly intelligent later on in life, or that only some newborn babies have the potential to become highly intelligent?”
- Study 3: Participants were asked three questions about their beliefs about individuals’ potential to achieve high intelligence, athletic ability, and musical talent and three questions about their beliefs about whether individuals can change their intelligence, athletic ability, and musical talent.
- Study 4: In general, how much do you think people can change their intelligence over time? Do you believe that people can change their intelligence a lot over time, or that people cannot change their intelligence a lot over time?
- Study 5:
- Universal Condition: Given the right environment, nearly everyone can become highly intelligent.
- Non-Universal Condition: Even in the right environment, not everyone can become highly intelligent.
- Entity Condition: People can’t really do much to change their intelligence.
- Incremental condition: People can always do a lot to change their intelligence.
Response Scale
- Study 1a: Participants were asked to choose the one item from each pair that they believed in more.
- Study 1b: 6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (6).
- Study 2: 20 point response scale that ranged from Almost all babies have the potential to become highly intelligent (1) to Only some babies have the potential to become highly intelligent (20).
- Study 3: 20 point response scale that ranged from almost all people have the potential to become highly intelligent/athletically skilled/musically talented (1) to only some people have the potential to become highly intelligent/athletically skilled/musically talented (20).
- Study 4: 20 point response scale that ranged from Intelligence cannot be changed much over time (1) to intelligence can be changed much over time (20).
- Study 5: 5 point response scale that ranged from Do not agree (1) to Strongly agree (6).
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Dweck, C. S. (1999). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
†Romero, C., Master, A., †Paunesku, D., †Dweck, C. S., & Gross, J. J. (2014). Academic and emotional functioning in middle school: the role of implicit theories. Emotion, 14(2), 227-235.
Additional Sample Information
6th – 8th graders at a suburban public school.
Sample Survey Item/s
You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic intelligence [reverse scored].
Response Scale
6 point response scale.
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Dweck, C. S. (1999). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
†Seo, E., Shen, Y., & Alfaro, E. C. (2019). Adolescents’ Beliefs about Math Ability and Their Relations to STEM Career Attainment: Joint Consideration of Race/ethnicity and Gender. Journal of youth and adolescence, 48(2), 306-325.
Sun, K. L. (2018). The role of mathematics teaching in fostering student growth mindset. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 49(3), 330-355.
Additional Sample Information
Middle school math teachers from six middle schools with economically, linguistically, and racially diverse student populations in California
Sample Survey Item/s
There are limits to how much people can improve their basic math ability.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (6).
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Rattan, A., Good, C., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). “It’s ok—Not everyone can be good at math”: Instructors with an entity theory comfort (and demotivate) students. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(3), 731-737.
Stipek, D. J., Givven, K. B., Salmon, J. M., & MacGyvers, V. L. (2001). Teachers’ beliefs and practices related to mathematics instruction. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(2), 213-226.
†Yeager, D. S., et al. (2016). Using design thinking to improve psychological interventions: The case of the growth mindset during the transition to high school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(3), 374-410.
Additional Sample Information
Sample Survey Item/s
You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you really can’t do much to change it.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (6).
Additional source(s) for survey measure
†Yeager, D. S., et al. (2019). A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement. Nature, 1-6.
Additional Sample Information
Sample Survey Item/s
Your intelligence is something about you that you can’t change very much.
Response Scale
6 point response scale that ranged from Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (6).
Additional source(s) for survey measure
Yeager, D. S., Romero, C. A., Paunesku, D., Hulleman, C. S., Schneider, B. K., Hinojosa, C. P., … & Dweck, C. S. (2016). Using design thinking to improve psychological interventions: The case of the growth mindset during the transition to high school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(3), 374-391.
