A growth mindset of intelligence reflects the belief that intelligence is malleable. We propose that how students perceive the mindset beliefs of their professors—through verbal and nonverbal cues present in the classroom—might be a strong predictor of student academic performance. Survey and institutional data from a university-wide sample of 6,060 undergraduate students and 110 instructors across various disciplines and learning modalities revealed that students’ perceptions of instructor mindset, but not their own mindset or instructor-reported mindset, were significantly associated with end-of-semester grades. Instead of trying to shift student or instructor mindset beliefs, interventions for enhancing academic performance could more effectively target situational cues—such as instructor language about ability and classroom practices—and how students understand and interpret these signals.
Over the past decade, there has been a growing appreciation of issues around metascience—how research is conducted—in psychological science. In addition to enhancing rigor and reproducibility through open and transparent research practices, greater inclusivity through diverse samples can enhance research relevance and applicability for historically marginalized and understudied populations. The present study reports on a comprehensive analysis of 2,615 posters presented at the 2021 biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Results revealed that research that was presented is heavily skewed towards quantitative studies featuring American researchers and Western hemisphere samples. Sharing of data/materials, preregistrations, and replications are extremely uncommon. Data provide a much-needed baseline by which developmental science can benchmark progress towards greater inclusivity and openness.
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