Praise:the paradox of “correct”

David JesseDec 21, 2013

an experiment

create 2 groups

give them a set of blocks

give them an objective

measure the time

results

group A

finishes in 30-40 sec

feedback

“good effort…” “and you found a

solution”

group B

finishes in 30-40 sec

feedback

“you are cleaver” “you found the

answer”

round 2

give a different objective

guess what, it’s not possible

results

group A

tries for 3-4 min, gives up

feedback

“good effort…” “you didn’t find a

solution”

group B

tries for 1-2 min, gives up

feedback

“you didn’t succeed”

round 3

give a final objective

results

group A

finishes in 30-40 sec

group B

most don’t even try

“it’s a trick” “I will look stupid” “I can’t do it correct” “it’s not really

important” “you want me to fail”

conclusions?

Carol Dweckfor more information, Google: