Grit vs IQ:
Essentiality Towards Cognitive Development
Cognitive development can be defined as a field of study in neuroscience and psychology revolving around the growth of the brain (Schacter & Woods 2009). This development is the evolution of skills such as, information processing, perceptual skills, conceptual resourcing, language knowledge and other brain development traits (ibid).
Passion and determination towards long term goals (otherwise known as ‘grit’) are parts of cognitive development. (Kantrowitz 2016). Grit is seen to be necessary for academic expertise in all fields ranging from sciences to the arts. (Ericsson, Prietula and Cokely 2007). Natural born Intelligence Quotient, also known as ‘IQ’, is described as a person’s ability to complete problems and understand concepts. This is compared across the population to give an average IQ score (Latham 2006). However, can this number accurately measure whether a human will become an expert in a field sooner than a grittier person? The focus of this essay is to evaluate whether grit or IQ has the most positive effect on cognitive development.
Throughout history there have been demonstrations of grit and the correlation to cognitive ability developing strongly through childhood. Mozart, was most commonly related to being a “child prodigy”, having an extremely high IQ and musically based talent (Ericsson, Prietula and Cokely 2007, p. 3). What is not universally known about the development of his ability
Academic work should not define intelligence nor should a job define ability; a person, regardless of grades, degrees, or job title, is an intellect. Together, Gerald Graff, a coauthor of They Say I say, professor, and former anti-intellect, author of "Hidden Intellectualism," and Mike Rose, professor, author, and in depth thinker, author of "Blue-Collar Brilliance," share two different perspectives on what an intellect truly is. Yet, both writings hold meaningful points and experiences to prove who qualifies to be an intellect. Society continuously focuses on what leads to a successful and rounded life: go to school, graduate, go back to school, get a degree, and then a job. It is believed that these high expectations of higher academics enables one to be more successful is correct; however, it is not. It is a person’s individual goals that give them the success they wish to have whether that be education, volunteering, or donating. Also, street smarts is not to be overlooked; a person with common sense can know more than a Doctor. Typically, a person can have either common sense or intelligence, not both. Street smarts is, without a doubt, a superior quality to possess as it encompasses more in life than just a degree does. For example, it is more appropriate to know how to cross a street properly in life than know how to perform a craniotomy. Furthermore, one does not gain knowledge and life lessons through school alone, but through experience,
Duckworth (2013) defines and explains grit as “Passion, perseverance, and stamina” she goes on to state that these characteristics or grit, “outweigh IQ as a predictor of success.” Based on Gladwell’s explanation of 10,000 hours of practice and the direct correlation to success, it can also be concluded that individuals that complete 10,000 hours of practice in their respective fields have passion and drive could also be described as
Cognitive Development refers to the construction of the thought process that includes problem solving, remembering and the ability to make decisions, from childhood up to the adulthood stage. Cognitive/Intellectual Development is the ability to learn, reason, and analyze the fact that a process begins from infancy and progresses as the individual (Educational Psychology). Cognitive Development contains events that are logical, like thinking and remembering. Some factors remain the same throughout many of the theories on cognitive development. All theorists agree that people go through specific steps and/or
He is what most people consider a musical prodigy, yet evidence suggests quite the opposite. Mozart became so famous when he actually succeeded at a slower rate than other people, which goes to show the effects of hard work. People who have the free will and mental capacity to work harder towards their goals will come to succeed even quicker than a famed “child prodigy” like Mozart.
These days nobody wants to struggle in life, in fact, most people may be inclined to give up when things don’t go their way. I now understand that “desirable difficulties” are related to the concept of grit in the article "Significance of Grit," because life is difficult and people who are persistent have grit. The two concepts go hand and hand. The first author David Boies points out that making some things more difficult is desirable. This concept is somewhat like when Angela Lee Duckworth argues in her article “The Significance of Grit," that grit should be part of resilience, matters happen that cause life to be more difficult, and you must persevere through the tough times to prevail and acquire better skills at whatever you’re doing.
Most people subscribe to the belief that Paul Tough refers to the cognitive hypothesis that suggests that success depends primarily on cognitive skills. They argue that intelligence is measured based on IQ tests which include the ability to recognize letters, words, detect patterns, and calculate. They say that the simplest way to acquire and develop skills is through practicing them continuously. Children should also begin practicing as early as possible to nurture skills. However, in the book titled “How Children Succeed,” Tough introduces the character hypothesis which explains that non–cognitive skills such as self-control, curiosity, self-confidence, conscientiousness, and grit are crucial to achieving success than sheer brainpower or cognitive skills (Tough 49). To justify his argument, he uses research findings from psychologists and neuroscientists. They say that character is developed by encountering with failure and overcoming it. The hidden power of character explains why some children perform well while others fail. However, I say that linking grit and character is pervasive and unfair to kids from poor backgrounds; particularly when the author states that academic proficiency is not a determinant of future success. The big point on Tough’s main arguments is that children succeed with character and not test scores.
One of the first things a child is taught while growing up is the well-known cliché, practice makes perfect. This phrase has been the basis for trial and error situations time and time again, where if it doesn’t work the first time then keep trying. In Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell leaves the audience with a memorable observation, the 10,000 hour rule. The basis of the 10,000 hour rule is that an area of interest requires 10,000 hours of practice in order to become an expert. Although this may be true in some situations, how can someone practice something they are unable to do? Natural talent and ability are crucial characteristics in order to become an expert in any area. This phenomena highly lends itself to the observations made about intelligence and genetics. The main misunderstanding when considering whether this argument is fundamentally nature or nurture is the difference between intelligence and education. Many consider education to be exactly equal to intelligence, which is the basis for the believing that working hard will essentially result in intelligence. Intelligence is considered as “a very general mental capability that, among other things, involved the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly, and learn from experience” (Colangelo19-39.) Qualities that make up the realm of intelligence are things that people are simply born with and cannot easily be taught and trained. One may be able to work twice as hard as the next person and equalize their achievements, but the essential difference at work is the way the mind process information and the difference between intelligence and education. Although some consider intelligence to be an environmentally based attribute, they fail to understand the true meaning of
Paul Tough, author of How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, takes on a tough topic of figuring out what components enable a child to succeed. Throughout the book he makes several claims that are related to poverty, attachment, and character. We believe all three of these items play a critical role in how children succeed. We will provide evidence to support these claims as well as critique them.
Cognitive development is the thought process from childhood through adolescence to adulthood including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making. Saroos cognitive development wasn't the best as a child. when he was lost and taken to the police he didn't know his moms name so it made it even more difficult to find his mother. As he got older his cognitive development improved he remembered little places he lived by like the train station he was at which with a little help from the computer he found where he lived later finding his mother. I'm not the best at remembering things or decision making but i’ve learned from my mistakes and i’ve
Cognitive development is very important throughout the stages of life. It is very important to how we function and think as individuals. In order to be successful academically and physically, we as human beings have to crawl before we can walk. So it is a step by step process that starts from prenatal development.
Cognitive development consists of language, memory, and attention. Cognitive functioning is a collection of abilities, attentions the focusing of mental resources on select information, short-term memory the retention of information over 30 seconds with no
Cognitive development is the development of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. Historically, the cognitive development of children has been studied in a variety of ways. The oldest is through intelligence tests. An example of this is the Stanford Binet Intelligence Quotient test. IQ scoring is based on the concept of mental age, according to which the scores of a child of average intelligence match his or her age. IQ tests are widely used in the United States, but they have been criticized for defining intelligence too narrowly. In contrast to the emphasis placed on a child¡¦s natural abilities by
Cognitive development is the way a child sees, thinks and gains understanding of the world through interaction, influence, learned and genetic factors. There are four areas of intelligence and child brain development. They are: biological approaches to intelligence, cognitive succession of stages, knowledge, and intellectual ability.
In one of the most watched Ted talk videos, “The Key To Success- Grit,” recorded in May 9 2013, the speaker Angela Lee Duckworth explains how the strongest performers in their fields were typically not the ones with the highest IQ’s, but the ones with the most amount of Grit. What is that? Angela defines Grit to be the passion and perseverance for a long-term goal and to go through with it with no quitting. She then goes on and talks about the studies and their results relating to pure Grit being the answer. Although her her speech is moving and brings hope to those who don’t think they can do much with a low IQ, her reasoning seems to not carry enough evidence.
Grit is the power of passion and perseverance. Passion and perseverance are not qualities that everybody has. Not everybody who sets a long-term goal achieves it. People who have passion and perseverance are most likely to succeed in life, because passion is what gives us the ability to stick to a goal for a long period of time, and perseverance is the motivation to continue pursuing our goals. Passion and perseverance are the bridges to achieve your goals. In the TED talk “Grit: the power of passion and perseverance” Angela Duckworth explain what will help you to succeed in life and she called it Grit, which she defined it as passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.