The Role of Praise & Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Learning (AQA GCSE Psychology): Revision Note
Exam code: 8182
Praise & learning
Praise is a positive response to something someone has done
E.g. a coach praising a swimmer's best time
Praise acts as a reward (positive reinforcement):
It makes the person feel good
It raises their self-esteem
It motivates them to repeat or improve the behaviour
In order to work, praise must be honest, sincere and deserved
If everyone is praised regardless of effort, it becomes meaningless
Dweck distinguishes praise for performance (how good you are) from praise for effort (how hard you tried):
Praising ability teaches the learner that ability is fixed – they may then avoid challenges in case they fail and lose the label (fixed mindset)
Praising effort teaches that ability can grow – the learner is more willing to take on hard tasks and persist (growth mindset)
Effort is also available to everyone, so effort-praise motivates the whole class; seeing someone praised for a performance you can't match is demotivating
e.g. praising a student for their attempt at a sponge cake even though it didn't rise
Examiner Tips and Tricks
It is, of course, motivating to be praised for both performance and effort: Dweck’s point is that if a task is difficult then any effort expended on it is worthy of positive feedback i.e. praise.
Self-efficacy beliefs & learning
Self-efficacy is a person's belief in their own ability to succeed at a specific task
e.g. "I scored two goals in the last game, I know I'll score again today" (high); "I always miss, so why bother?" (low)
It comes from past experience as:
success raises self-efficacy
repeated failure lowers it
what parents, teachers and peers say about our ability affects our self-efficacy
Self-efficacy affects motivation:
People choose tasks they believe they can do
People put in more effort, persist longer when it gets hard
They are more resilient after setbacks
Teachers can build self-efficacy by setting tasks at a level where students can succeed, creating the expectation of further success
Evaluation of the role of praise & self-efficacy in learning
Strengths
The theory has good research support:
Spencer et al. (1999) set a maths test for equal-ability male and female Psychology students
In one of the conditions the researcher told the group that the test had found gender differences
In the above condition females under-performed males as they may have succumbed to a lowering of self-efficacy due to the stereotype that women are not as good at maths as men
In the control condition there was no difference in maths scores between the male and female participants
Practical application: Dweck (1975) told students their poor results were due to lack of effort later persisted more on hard tasks than students who were only praised. The type of feedback matters
Weaknesses
Praise can reduce motivation: Lepper et al. (1973) – nursery children rewarded for drawing later drew less than unrewarded children. External rewards can replace internal motivation
Correlational evidence: self-efficacy is linked to performance, but doing well may raise self-efficacy rather than the other way round
Worked Example
Here is an example of a question you might be asked on this topic - for AO1.
AO1: You need to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key concepts, ideas, theories and research.
After each featured question there is a ‘model’ answer i.e. one which would achieve top marks in the exam.
Question: What is meant by ‘praise’ in the context of learning? [2]
Model answer:
Praise could be defined as expressing approval for the effort that a learner has put into a piece of work e.g. a five year-old’s painting of a cat that she spent a lot of time on.
Praise can also be seen when someone expresses admiration for the standard of a piece of work or an achievement e.g. an A* grade in GCSE Psychology.
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