1. Decide whether your child is mastery-oriented or performance-oriented. Then, explain which behavior your child would show if they were the opposite (mastery-/ performance-oriented) instead. "Your child always compares their performance to other students".
2. Read the scenario, decide whether Linda is mastery- or performance-oriented and find evidence for your decision.
"In a tutorial group after school Linda sits on her seat quietly and not asking any questions. When she is asked questions by the tutor, she responds by saying, “I don’t know.” At the end of the tutoring session, when students have the opportunity to ask more questions, Linda still tells the tutor that she doesn’t have any questions to ask and stays silent".
"In a tutorial group after school Linda sits on her seat quietly and not asking any questions. When she is asked questions by the tutor, she responds by saying, “I don’t know.” At the end of the tutoring session, when students have the opportunity to ask more questions, Linda still tells the tutor that she doesn’t have any questions to ask and stays silent".
3. When Peter noticed the grade C on his psychology test, he explained to his friends that he didn't study as much as he usually does. He had to work the night before the test and was very busy helping his ill mum. Still he is convinced that he can study and understand the topics, he just didn't have quite enough time before the test. Does Peter have an incremental or entity view of ability?
4. Which of these pieces of advice of what you should do as a parent is not true?
You as a parent should...
You as a parent should...
- ... support your child in attributing their success and failure to internal and controllable factors, such as effort and strategy use.
- ... offer unsolicited help. Every support is helpful.
- ... assist your child to identify where improvement is needed. For instance, better strategies could be necessary.
5. Which kind of reward should you especially avoid with your children?
- unexpected rewards
- tangible incentives
- encouragement to acknowledge your child’s accomplishments
- rewards for pursuing a hobby
6. What are the main sources of self-efficacy?
7. What are natural or logical consequences as alternatives to punishments?
- Your child gets cold after refusing to put on a jacket
- Taking away your child's bike because they ride into the street after they were told not to
- Not allowing your child to watch TV after they were rude to their parents
- If your child breaks something, they have to pay for it out of their savings
8. Which of these statements about self-efficacy are not true?
- Self-efficacy is a task-specific judgement of one’s ability
- Children with high self-efficacy tend to feel they are not in control of their environment
- Children with higher self-efficacy tend to be more persistent than children with lower self-efficacy
- Children with lower self-efficacy tend to pick more challenging tasks than children with higher self-efficacy
9. Which attributions of your child cannot be influenced by your behavior (as a parent)?
- effort
- luck/ chance
- health or energy level
- strategy use
Answer to 1: My child is performance-oriented; if they were mastery-oriented, the child would focus on the learning process and on improving their skills (growth mindset) instead of comparing their high abilities to others.
Answer to 2: Linda is a performance-oriented learner and she believes that if she asks questions, her friends and others of the tutorial group will make fun of her and think she is dumb and does not know anything. Therefore, she tries to act like she already knows everything, thus does not ask any questions.
Answer to 3: In noting that he didn't study as hard as he usually does, Peter protected his perception of high ability. He has a more incremental view of ability and high need for achievement, because he explained that he can understand the content of the psychology class but he just didn't have quite enough time. Peter still wants to study the topics, because he is interested in learning more and improving himself. Therefore, he is learning- or mastery-oriented.
Answer to 4: Offering subtle feedback such as unsolicited help to your child can have a negative impact on it, because it can cause negative attributions to your child, such as low ability. Furthermore, this will increase the likelihood that your child will attribute failure to lack of ability. Therefore, it is better to help your child when they ask for it.
Answer to 5: Tangible incentives; rewards for pursuing a hobby
Answer to 6: Past performance, verbal persuasion, psychological states and modeling
Answer to 7: Your child gets cold after refusing to put on a jacket; taking away your child's bike because they ride into the street after they were told not to; if your child breaks something, they have to pay for it out of their savings
Answer to 8: Children with high self-efficacy tend to feel they are not in control of their environment; children with lower self-efficacy tend to pick more challenging tasks than children with higher self-efficacy
Answer to 9: Luck/ Chance is an external, unstable and uncontrollable factor which can't be influenced. The child's health or energy level is an internal, unstable and uncontrollable factor which also can't be influenced by your behavior.