scholarly journals Conjuring up creativity: the effect of performing magic tricks on divergent thinking

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11289
Author(s):  
Richard Wiseman ◽  
Amy Wiles ◽  
Caroline Watt

Research suggests that learning to perform magic tricks can promote both physical and psychological wellbeing. The current study extended this work by examining the impact of learning magic tricks on divergent thinking. A group of 10- to 11-year-old children completed Guilford’s Alternate Uses Test both before and after participating in either a magic-based, or art-based, activity. As predicted, compared to the art-based activity, the magic-based activity resulted in a significantly greater increase in both AUT Fluency and AUT Originality scores. Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale and Dweck’s Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale for Children was also completed after each activity, and participants’ self-esteem scores were higher after the art-based activity than the magic-based activity. In an exploratory aspect of the study, the AUT was re-administered to both groups three weeks later, and yielded no significant differences. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.

2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-170
Author(s):  
Luna Radević ◽  
Ivona Jerković ◽  
Ilija Milovanović

Implicit theories of intelligence are individual beliefs about the nature of intelligence, which are used on a daily basis as part of self-assessment and assessment of others, and are a significant factor shaping attitudes and behaviors. Research to date suggests that teachers can influence their students' beliefs about intelligence, which in turn affect motivation and achievement. According to Dweck's model, implicit theories of intelligence are a bipolar construct, with two theories at its extremes - the entity theory, which stresses the immutability of intelligence, and the incremental theory, which holds that intelligence can be improved through training and learning. Recent research, however, indicates that these two theories represent distinct, uncorrelated dimensions. The aim of this study was to carry out a psychometric evaluation of the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale (ITIS) and the Mathematics-Oriented Implicit Theory of Intelligence Scale (MOITIS). 228 primary and secondary school teachers in Serbia (87.7% female; average age 42.79 years) took part in the study. The results of factor analysis suggest the existence of two factors on both scales: incremental theory and entity theory. Further analysis showed that both factors of the ITIS and MOITIS scales have satisfactory psychometric properties. Significant differences were detected between primary and secondary school teachers on the ITIS scale. More specifically, among teachers of science subjects, mathematics and medical subjects the attitude that intelligence is a fixed trait is more pronounced than among teachers of the arts, humanities and social sciences.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
O Vindeker ◽  
S Pavlova

This paper is devoted to cognitive development of preschoolers in correlation with implicit theories of their parents. There are four positive mindsets of intelligence and learning motivation: (1) growth intelligence mindset, (2) growth personality mindset, (3) acceptance of learning goals, (4) positive learning self-esteem. We hypothesized that cognitive and intellectual parameters and self-esteem of preschoolers correlatewith parents’ growth mindsets. The study involved 120 subjects-40 preschoolers in age of 6 ± 0.5 years old (20 boys and 20 girls) and their 80 fathers and mothers. The parents ’ sample consisted of subjects aged from 27 to 54 years average age was 37.9 ± 6.7 years old). To investigate the cognitive differences of preschoolers we used: (1) two subtests of WISC (for examining attention and short-term memory); (2) Method of Verbal Thinking of Kern-Yirasek; (3) Method of Express Diagnostics of Intellectual Abilities (MEDIA) I. S. Averina, E. I. Shabanova and E. N. Zadorina. To explore parents’ mindsets Questionnaire of Implicit Theories of Intelligence and Personality (by C. Dweck, in the adaptation of T.V. Kornilova et al, 2008) was used. It was determined that the indicators of cognitive development and intelligence of girls are more related to parental attitudes than boys. In this case, the closest relationship is observed in the dyad ”father – daughter”. Indicators of attention, short-term memory, understanding of quantitative and qualitative relations, logical thinking are associated with mindsets of growth intelligence and adoption of their fathers’ high learning value. Girls ’mathematical abilities are positively related to fathers’ and negative mothers ’ growth mindsets. Keywords: parents’ influence, growth intelligence mindset, growth personality mindset, learning goals, learning self-esteem, cognitive and intellectual development.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronny Scherer ◽  
Diego Campos

Fixed and growth mindsets represent implicit theories about the nature of one’s abilities or traits. The existing body of research on academic achievement and the effectiveness of mindset interventions for student learning largely relies on the premise that fixed and growth mindsets are mutually exclusive. This premise has led to the common practice in which measures of one mindset are reversed and then assumed to represent the other mindset. Focusing on K-12 and university students (N = 27328), we tested the validity of this practice via a comprehensive item-level meta-analysis of the Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale (ITIS). By means of meta-analytic structural equation modeling and network analysis, we examined (a) the ITIS item-item correlations and their heterogeneity across 32 primary studies; (b) the factor structure of the ITIS, including the distinction between fixed and growth mindset; and (c) moderator effects of sample, study, and measurement characteristics. We found positive item-item correlations within the sets of fixed and mindset items, with substantial between-study heterogeneity. The ITIS factor structure comprised two moderately correlated mindset factors (ρ = .63–.65), even after reversing one mindset scale. This structure was moderated by the educational level and origin of the student sample, the assessment mode, and scale modifications. Overall, we argue that fixed and growth mindsets are not mutually exclusive but correlated constructs. We discuss the implications for the assessment of implicit theories of intelligence in education.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-17
Author(s):  
Iveta Ādamsone ◽  
Nataļja Gudakovska ◽  
Guna Svence

Growth mindset has become popular in the field of psychology and education all around the world. In the Baltic States this concept is relatively new. This research compiles results of two different studies that, for the first time in the Baltic States, analyse the concept of “implicit theories of intelligence” (ITI) and its factors – growth and fixed mindset, and investigate the relations between ITI and academic achievement of students. Data of two different samples of secondary school adolescents is used. Sample 1 consisted of students (N1=258) aged between 14 and 18, 134 females (M=15.13; SD=1.29) and 124 males (M=15.40; SD=1.20) studying in 7th-12th grade in two Latvian schools. Sample 2 consisted of students (N2=165), 80 females and 85 males, aged between 15 and 19 (M=16.75; SD=.90) studying in 10th-12th grade in five Latvian schools. Measures: The Revised Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale, The Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale for Children, and The College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale. The results of the study in Sample 1 (N1=258) showed significant positive relations between growth mindset and academic achievement, and gender specific difference in views of intelligence. The results of the study in Sample 2 (N2=165) identified positive relations between ITI and students’ achievement in Mathematics. The regression analysis (N2=165) showed that ITI predict academic achievement in Mathematics at a significant level. The findings suggest discrepancies with the previous studies. The construct needs to be explored further. Keywords: academic self-efficacy, academic achievement, gender differences, growth and fixed mindset, intelligence theories, school students.


2017 ◽  
Vol 225 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivar Bråten ◽  
Andreas Lien ◽  
John Nietfeld

Abstract. In two experiments with Norwegian undergraduates and one experiment with US undergraduates, we examined the potential effects of brief task instructions aligned with incremental and entity views of intelligence on students’ performance on a rational thinking task. The research demonstrated that even brief one-shot task instructions that deliver a mindset about intelligence intervention can be powerful enough to affect students’ performance on such a task. This was only true for Norwegian male students, however. Moreover, it was the task instruction aligned with an entity theory of intelligence that positively affected Norwegian male students’ performance on the rational thinking task, with this unanticipated finding speaking to the context- and culture-specificity of implicit theories of intelligence interventions.


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