Title |
Theories of Willpower Affect Sustained Learning
|
---|---|
Published in |
PLOS ONE, June 2012
|
DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0038680 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Eric M. Miller, Gregory M. Walton, Carol S. Dweck, Veronika Job, Kali H. Trzesniewski, Samuel M. McClure |
Abstract |
Building cognitive abilities often requires sustained engagement with effortful tasks. We demonstrate that beliefs about willpower-whether willpower is viewed as a limited or non-limited resource-impact sustained learning on a strenuous mental task. As predicted, beliefs about willpower did not affect accuracy or improvement during the initial phases of learning; however, participants who were led to view willpower as non-limited showed greater sustained learning over the full duration of the task. These findings highlight the interactive nature of motivational and cognitive processes: motivational factors can substantially affect people's ability to recruit their cognitive resources to sustain learning over time. |
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Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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United States | 7 | 44% |
Canada | 1 | 6% |
United Kingdom | 1 | 6% |
Belgium | 1 | 6% |
Unknown | 6 | 38% |
Demographic breakdown
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---|---|---|
Members of the public | 9 | 56% |
Scientists | 5 | 31% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 13% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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United States | 2 | 1% |
Switzerland | 2 | 1% |
Netherlands | 1 | <1% |
Chile | 1 | <1% |
Germany | 1 | <1% |
Canada | 1 | <1% |
United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
Spain | 1 | <1% |
Luxembourg | 1 | <1% |
Other | 0 | 0% |
Unknown | 184 | 94% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 40 | 21% |
Student > Master | 37 | 19% |
Student > Bachelor | 18 | 9% |
Researcher | 17 | 9% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 16 | 8% |
Other | 47 | 24% |
Unknown | 20 | 10% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 88 | 45% |
Social Sciences | 30 | 15% |
Business, Management and Accounting | 7 | 4% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 7 | 4% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 5 | 3% |
Other | 25 | 13% |
Unknown | 33 | 17% |