This has been an important topic of research the past few decades. Traditionally, researchers have focused on growth mindset in the intelligence domain. The basis for what we now refer to as growth mindset began as a way of explaining patterns of behavior associated with motivations to learn and reactions to challenge (Dweck & Legget, 1988). Based on observations of children engaged in academic tasks, Carol Dweck developed the theory that a person’s belief about the malleability of their intelligence predicted their motivational thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. So, individuals varied in the extent to which they believed their abilities either cannot be changed which is a fixed mindset, or that their abilities could be changed, which is a growth mindset. These beliefs have generally been referred to as theories of intelligence or lay theories, but more recently been referred to as growth and fixed mindsets. Intelligence mindset was used as a general academic measure and early studies showed that children with a growth intelligence mindset were more likely to adopt learning goals, prefer tasks that embody learning goals, and seek challenges (Dweck & Leggett, 1988), compared to children with a fixed …show more content…
Development refers to the “stability and change in the biopsychlogical characteristics of human beings over the life course and across generations” (p. 995). Causation or relationship to change is multifaceted within a system that interacts dynamically with the developing person. Relationships are bidirectional and multi-factorial. “The forces producing the stability and change in characteristics of human beings across successive generations are no less important than stability and change in characteristics of the same person over his or her lifetime” (p. 995). Bronfenbrenner’s theory is based on the four components of development: Process, Person, Context and Time. This theory is located around processes, that is, the “particular forms of interaction between organism and environment, called proximal processes” (p. 994). Proximal processes are the “primary engines of development” (p. 996). Examining those processes within the microsystem of a child is crucial to understanding the impact of relationships on