Prior research has shown that growth mindsets go along with higher resilience to failure experiences (e.g., Moser et al., 2011; Schroder et al., 2017). Neurophysiological findings advanced the understanding of failure processing, showing that endorsing a growth mindset is associated with a higher event-related potential (ERP) in response to errors (Schroder et al., 2017). While the original understanding of mindsets mainly referred to intelligence (e.g., Blackwell et al., 2007; Dweck & Leggett, 1988), the latest research applies the concept of growth mindsets to domain-specific abilities such as self-regulation (e.g., Hertel & Karlen, 2021; Hertel et al., 2024). Domain-specific mindsets have been shown to better predict specific behavior (e.g., Bråten & Strømsø, 2005; Hertel & Karlen, 2021).
Expanding the neurophysiological findings by Schroder et al. (2017) by including the domain-specific self-regulation mindset, our study examines correlations between self-reported mindsets and ERPs during a go-nogo-task (Grammer et al., 2014). We conducted analyses on data from 107 children (mean age 6.66 years, 42.9% females), who reported growth mindsets on a scale from 1 to 5 regarding both self-regulation (M = 4.24, SD = 1.02) and intelligence (M = 4.27, SD = 0.93).
Preliminary analyses show a mean accuracy during the go-nogo-task of about 88.8%, ensuring enough error trials for the ERP-analyses. For stimulus locked responses, we found a positive correlation between the self-regulation mindset and P300 amplitudes (tau = 0.241, p = 0.035). This association suggests that individuals with a growth mindset about self-regulation exhibit an increasing attentional focus on upcoming stimuli following an initial error. In contrast, a negative correlation between the intelligence mindset and ERN amplitude (tau = -0.283, p = 0.007) indicates stronger immediate error monitoring in children with a growth mindset about intelligence.
The findings emphasize the relevance of mindsets for neurophysiological processes, offering valuable insights for educational practices.
