Summary for an article

Nathaniel Cayanan

Professor McCool

ESL 201

February 12th, 2018

Sample Summary “Brainology”

In her article, “Brainology,” Carol S. Dweck discusses how a person’s mindset affects his/her ability to succeed academically. According to Dweck, there are two mindsets, fixed and growth. A fixed mindset is the belief that one’s own intelligence cannot be grown, that one is given a certain ability and will not be able to develop it despite any effort. Those with this mindset tend to focus on appearing smart, rather than actually being smart, especially if a student is told he naturally intelligent. On the other hand, those with a growth mindset believe that, with long-standing effort, they can eventually develop skill and intelligence. In fact, Dweck’s studies have shown that a growth mindset actually is a great predictor of whether one will succeed in the classroom. Additionally, one last point Dweck makes about a fixed mindset is the idea that stereotypes are practically a fixed mindset construct, which encourages people to follow a stereotype, which may hinder one’s growth in certain ways, especially academically. For example, an African American male may feel unable to succeed in the classroom because of stereotypes of them being less intelligent. In the end, a fixed mindset is a self-fulfilling prophecy, while a growth mindset offers possibility and hope for those who want to grow.