Comparing Growth Mindset with Thinking Fast and Slow
Image courtesy of Transforming Education
Learning about Carol Dweck’s growth mindset philosophy makes
me wonder about what is going on inside the brain and how we can affect the
thinking process to move between a fixed and growth mindset. According to brain scans performed during Dweck’s
research, fixed mindset students had less brain activity than their growth
mindset peers. Why is that? Are the fixed mindset students refusing to
think about a difficult problem, or is something else happening within their
brains?
I think that analyzing the growth mindset philosophy through
the concepts presented in psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s book Thinking Fast and Slow will give insight
into what is going on mechanically within the brain and help us find ways to
access a growth mindset. Kahneman
divides thought processes into two systems.
System 1 is the quick thinker that filters through previously obtained
information to develop a quick response to an external stimulus. System 2 is the slower process that makes a
conscious effort to analyze an external stimulus. Each system serves a purpose. One is not better than the other and they often
work together. The major difference is
that System 2 consumes a lot more energy to process information than System
1. That’s why after performing deep
thinking you tend to feel the same amount of hunger and exhaustion that your
body would feel after a strenuous workout.
It’s also why the brain scans of the students lit up during growth
mindset thinking versus fixed mindset thinking.
I propose that growth mindset encourages a paradigm shift
that boosts students desire to increase how much time they engage in System 2
thinking. I would like to spend my extra
credit time exploring this proposition further.
Currently Reading:
Currently Reading:
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor
by Rick Riordan
by Rick Riordan
