The children were randomly assigned to two groups, both of which took an age-appropriate version of the IQ test. After taking the test, one group was praised for their intelligence – “You must be smart at this,” the researcher said – while the other group was praised for their effort and told they “must have worked really hard.”

子供たちをランダムに二つのグループにわけて年齢にあわせた IQ テストを与えます。そして片方のグループに対しては結果に対して「君たちはずいぶん頭がいいんだね」という褒め言葉を与えるのに対して、もう片方のグループには「よくがんばった」と褒めてあげます。

Dweck then gave the same fifth-graders another test. This test was designed to be extremely difficult – it was an intelligence test for eighth-graders – but Dweck wanted to see how they would respond to the challenge. The students who were initially praised for their effort worked hard at figuring out the puzzles. Kids praised for their smarts, on the other hand, quickly became discouraged.

次に同じ子供たちに、今度は非常に難易度の高い、年齢に対して不相応に難しいテストを与え、その反応をみてみます。「努力」を褒められた子供たちは問題を解くために努力を続けたのに対して、「頭の良さ」を褒められた子供たちはすぐにやる気を失ってしまった。