In sum understanding more precisely how mindsets relate

In sum, understanding more precisely how mindsets relate to the processes that occur immediately after mistakes in this Exendin-3 (9-39) amide younger age range may open novel avenues for research and intervention to improve resilience. Thus, in the current study, school-age children performed a developmentally appropriate error-monitoring task while we recorded the ERN, Pe and post-error performance. On the basis of previous correlational research of mindsets and ERPs (Mangels et al., 2006; Moser et al., 2011) as well as those from the earlier mindset studies (Dweck and Leggett, 1988) we hypothesized that children who endorsed more of a growth mindset would 1) demonstrate greater amplitude of the Pe, 2) demonstrate greater post-error accuracy, and 3) that greater post-error accuracy would be accounted for by increased Pe amplitude.
Method
Results
Discussion This study examined the relation between growth mindset endorsement and neural correlates of error processing among school-aged children. Although the association between mindset and resilience to mistakes has been noted across development, nearly all research has used self-report or behavioral observation methods, precluding insights into the moment-to-moment cognitive processes that occur immediately after mistakes are made. Using a neurocognitive approach, we confirmed our prediction that growth-minded children demonstrated enhanced amplitude of the Pe, an ERP linked with attention allocation. We also found that growth-minded children had better accuracy after mistakes. Both of these findings replicate correlational work in adult samples (Mangels et al., 2006; Moser et al., 2011). Finally, exploratory analyses found that the Pe difference moderated the association between growth mindset and post-error accuracy, such that growth mindset was most related to post-error accuracy for children with smaller Pe amplitudes. This is the third ERP study linking mindsets with later, as opposed to earlier, ERPs related to error and feedback processing (Mangels et al., 2006; Moser et al., 2011) and the first study to demonstrate this association among school-aged children. The consistency and specificity of these results across development suggests that the cognitive processes occurring around 200–500ms following errors − in the time window of the Pe − may be important to consider in the wider mindset nomological network. We suggest enlarged Pe among growth-minded individuals reflects greater attention allocation to mistakes and/or greater error awareness, an interpretation in line with the functional significance of the Pe (Nieuwenhuis et al., 2001; O’Connell et al., 2007; Ridderinkhof et al., 2009; Steinhauser and Yeung, 2010) and with studies demonstrating a greater tendency of growth-minded children, compared to fixed-minded children, to direct attention toward their mistakes in order to improve their subsequent performance (Diener and Dweck, 1978, 1980; Dweck, 1999). Others have suggested the Pe reflects greater emotional responsivity to errors (e.g., Falkenstein et al., 2000), but this hypothesis has not been well articulated or supported (Overbeek et al., 2005). Rather, it is likely that the processes reflected in the Pe are more nuanced than mere affective reactivity. Of note, the Pe shares many characteristics (scalp distribution, temporal dynamics, associations with attentional processes) with the stimulus-locked P3b (Davies et al., 2004; Leuthold and Sommer, 1999; Ridderinkhof et al., 2009), an ERP component thought to reflect a number of processes, including the mobilization of attentional resources to motivationally-relevant task events (e.g., Nieuwenhuis et al., 2005; Polich, 2007). Seen in this light, the generally larger Pe among growth-minded children may provide neural evidence for two key predictions from mindset theory: 1) that growth-minded children view errors as more motivationally relevant events than fixed-minded children, and 2) that they expend more cognitive resources (i.e., effort) involved in processing and adjustment following mistakes (Dweck, 1999; Dweck and Leggett, 1988; Hong et al., 1999). Clearly, future research is needed to further understand the importance of engagement vs. disengagement of attentional resources following errors among growth-minded individuals across development.