Like math? Thank your motivation, not your IQ

[Chris]

Thought this nature v nurture article on a latest finding interesting.


Looks like Tiger Mom had it half-right: Motivation to work hard and good study techniques, not IQ, lead to better math skills, a new study shows.

But there's a catch: The findings, published this month in the journal Child Development, show that keeping children's heads in the math books by force probably won't help.

The analysis of more than 3,500 German children found those who started out solidly in the middle of the pack in the fifth grade could jump to the 63rd percentile by eighth grade if they were very motivated and used effective learning strategies, said lead author Kou Murayama, a psychology researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles.

"The growth in math achievement was predicted by motivation and learning strategies," Murayama told LiveScience. "Given that IQ did not show this kind of effect, we think this is impressive."

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@ Like math? Thank your motivation, not your IQ (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50315642/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.UN917G-7N8F)

[GrassrootsConservative]

I would say that motivation is the driving force behind anything you can do very well. I'm not very athletic, but I don't have any interest in sports either. On that same note, I love to read, and have a very high reading level and vocabulary.
This is kind of a no-brainer to me, but at least somebody did a study on it. I would like to see studies done on motivation in other areas of learning and education as well.

[Mister D]

Not surprisingly, at the start of the study, kids with high IQs performed the best at math.
But in a vindication of exacting Tiger Moms (http://www.livescience.com/18023-tiger-parenting-tough-kids.html) everywhere, effective studying techniques and motivation, not IQ, predicted who had most improved their math skills by 10th grade. Kids who started out with average math abilities but were in the top 10 percent in terms of learning strategies and motivation jumped up by about 13 percentage points over the course of the study in their math abilities, Murayama said. Apathetic kids with high IQs showed no such jump.



Seems obvious enough to me. Effort counts for as much, or even more in certain circumstances, than innate intelligence.

[Carygrant]

The scope to better your IQ is very limited . Researched fact , not just my opinion .
All you can do is to learn a few "tricks " and short cuts to improve method -- your "skills". Plus , repeatedly take IQ tests to learn the underlying principles of the question to answer format .
One way of improving "'skills " is learning through experience and "street competition" , subjects not catered for in the academic syllabus . The end product is a " smart " person , not necessarily high on basic IQ , but often an overall " winner" .

[Chris]

The scope to better your IQ is very limited . Researched fact , not just my opinion .
All you can do is to learn a few "tricks " and short cuts to improve method -- your "skills". Plus , repeatedly take IQ tests to learn the underlying principles of the question to answer format .
One way of improving "'skills " is learning through experience and "street competition" , subjects not catered for in the academic syllabus . The end product is a " smart " person , not necessarily high on basic IQ , but often an overall " winner" .


I would agree with what I think you're saying, basically, social influences affect motivation. An environment of high expectations should produce higher results. From the OP link:


Just how innate math skills are is a controversial question. Some studies show that math skills emerge in babies, while others show that culture plays a huge role in shaping those skills.
For instance, men consistently outperform women on standardized math tests. But those differences may be due to math anxiety, or cultural influences, other studies have shown.



The scope to better your IQ is very limited . Researched fact , not just my opinion .

How limited? Can you provide some links to research on this?