Neuroplasticity can be viewed as a general umbrella term that refers to the brain's ability to modify, change, and adapt both structure and function throughout life and in response to experience. Scientists used to believe that the brain was fixed after adolescence but have learned in the past few decades that the brain is malleable and can change throughout our lives. The more we use neural pathways, the stronger they become. There’s so much we have yet to learn about neuroplasticity but we do know it has a huge potential for us to improve our ability to learn and recover from brain injuries such as stroke.
We can use the principles of neuroplasticity to improve our outlook and approach to learning. We known now that getting better at something can come with improving our neural pathways and that happens through deliberate practice with increasing challenge. Understanding neuroplasticity allows us to take on more of a growth mindset as it scientifically supports the idea that we are not fixed at all and can change our brain with practice and focussed attention.
Carol S. Dweck wrote the book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.” In it, she discusses the theory that self-belief about our own abilities can determine how successful we are learning new and challenging things. Growth and fixed are two terms used to describe these mindsets. A growth mindset is one where a person views intelligence and skill as being changeable through practice and learning. A fixed mindset is one where a person believes intelligence and skill are mostly determined by natural ability and stay largely fixed regardless of how much practice and learning someone does. Carol Dweck and her colleagues researched these two mindsets and their relation to overall success in the classroom and they found that a growth mindset can be a major determining factor to whether or not someone succeeds. It’s worth understanding these two mindsets so that I can deliberately take on a growth mindset that will help me be kinder to myself, view struggle as a positive challenge, and ultimately result in my success of overcoming obstacles to attain my learning goals.
For me the biggest thing I learned was how taking on a growth mindset can be extremely effective in helping underperforming groups, who are often mischaracterised as not having any hope, improve their performance to compete at levels with their highest achieving peers. The biggest takeaway of both neuroplasticity and the growth mindset is how much your belief that things are possible can massively predict your actual success. And neuroplasticity only proves scientifically that a growth mindset is the reality. We can always learn and grow as long as we believe we can and are willing to practice and view failure as a learning opportunity.
It’s funny that while researching mindset, I saw so often that we fall into the trap of having a fixed mindset/black and white thinking/one-or-the other of whether people have a growth mindset or fixed mindset! I think the reality is that we are all a combination of both. No one is likely 100% one or the other. This video explains it quite well:
The environment and messaging you receive are extremely important to which mindset you employ at any given time. This was true even for Carol Dweck’s studies. When she taught the children about the effects of having a growth mindset and neuroplasticity this seemed to have a direct impact on their learning outcomes for the better. So the messaging they received changed and that had a direct impact on their results.
A lot of the time what gets in the way of leaning towards your growth mindset is the effort to prove yourself to your friends, family, and colleagues. And why do we want to prove ourselves? Much of that comes down to insecurity. Feeling insecure can drive us to defend ourselves and lean towards a fixed mindset where we are more concerned with receiving validation than learning or finding answers to our questions. I think that psychological safety, acceptance in the group you are with, and a positive perception and messaging of failure while learning all have a massive impact on whether you feel free to lean into the growth mindset. I also think a lot of challenges in these areas can be overcome if we cultivate self acceptance, self-love, and reduce social anxiety through behaviours like mediation, journaling, and being vulnerable with close friends and family so that we can feel more secure in our day-to-day learning.
“Do people with this [growth] mindset believe that anyone can be anything, that anyone with proper motivation or education can become Einstein or Beethoven? No, but they believe that a person’s true potential is unknown (and unknowable); that it’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training.”
- Carol Dweck
One thing I found missing was how curiosity factors into supporting a growth mindset. I think the growth mindset has a lot to do with curiosity - someone’s desire to know the answer and learn more about the world rather than being driven by their desire to become smarter to feed their ego. In this way, I think someone who has a fixed mindset in one subject they aren’t curious or interested in might find that they have a growth mindset in another subject. I find I’m a naturally curious person and so many things interest me. I love learning and knowing things. I am not motivated to become a smart person per se but I do find so many things about the world interesting which often overshadows my fear of appear stupid. I say this because I am insecure and do also want validation. I just find that my curiosity to know something often trumps this fear of how I’ll be perceived.
Another thing I found interesting was the experiment where they offered praise to children where they attributed the success to effort for one group and natural ability for the other. The ones that were praised on effort weren’t dismayed by challenging questions or failure like the kids praised on ability. Carol Dweck mentions that the mindset that was cultivated in those children based on the praise offered to them is responsible for their success. I definitely agree that language can have an enormous effect on our state of mind to learn. Once someone receives praise or is told they ARE something (you ARE smart), they are fearful of losing that association that has now become their identity or perhaps even letting the person down who told them they are smart. So in a way, praising someone on effort means it removes the judgment factor on WHO a person is statically and gives them freedom to be themselves in that moment (whether they are doing well or finding something challenging, it can be understood as a temporary state of being rather than intrinsically linked to who that person is). This reminded me so much of imposter syndrome where fear of not living up to people’s idea of you can suffocate your growth and happiness.
The main takeaways on neuroplasticity and mindset is that I can adopt behaviours now that can positively affect my ability to learn to code. By tackling the emotional side of things, I can change my attitude towards failure and learning so that I become more resilient. I plan to integrate what I’ve learned about neuroplasticity and growth mindset into my learning plan by doing the following:
I am going to remember this as BEAM (be kind to myself, enjoy the process, accept failure, and meditate) so I don’t forget! Wish me luck.