Presentation at the 22nd Annual Reference Research Forum sponsored by the Reference & User Services Association (RUSA) Reference Services Section (RSS) at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference on Sunday, June 26, 2016 in Orlando, FL

1. Research
Consultations and
Dweck’s Theories of
Intelligence
Amanda Folk
Kelly Bradish
Anna Mary Williford
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg

2. Co-authors
Kelly Bradish
Reference/Public Services Librarian
Anna Mary Williford
Instruction/Public Services Librarian

3. What are theories of intelligence?
Incremental theory
• Growth mindset
• Intelligence can increase as one
learns
• Mastery orientation to difficult tasks
or the potential for failure
• Mastery orientation toward learning
goals
• Achievement is based on hard work
and strategy
Entity theory
• Fixed or closed mindset
• Intelligence is a fixed trait that
cannot increase
• Helpless orientation to difficult tasks
or the potential for failure
• Performance orientation toward
learning goals
• Achievement is based on natural
ability

4. We want to know…
Do students who make appointments
for research consultations with a
librarian subscribe to a particular
theory of intelligence as defined by
Dweck?

5. Why we think this is important.
• New ways of thinking about…
 how individuals approach the research process (i.e.
information-seeking and use behaviors)
 individuals’ motivations for seeking help or not
 what individuals’ expectations are for receiving help from an
information professional

6. Study design
• Survey administered prior to research
consultation
 9 questions related to theories of intelligence and goal
orientation
 3 student background questions (i.e. major, class standing,
gender)
 3 questions about motivation for making a research
consultation appointment

7. Participants (n = 70)
• Gender
 Female = 46 (65.7%)
 Male = 17 (24.3%)
 No answer = 7 (10.0%)
• Major
 Communication = 29 (41.4%)
 Biological science = 13 (18.6%)
 Psychology = 8 (11.4%)
• Year
 Freshman = 14 (20.0%)
 Sophomore = 12 (17.1%)
 Junior = 11 (15.7%)
 Senior = 32 (45.7%)
• Required to make an appointment?
 Yes = 46 (65.7%)
 No = 24 (34.3%)
• First research consultation?
 Yes = 60 (85.7%)
 No = 10 (14.3%)
• How did you hear about this service?
 Librarian = 17 (24.3%)
 Professor = 14 (20.0%)
 Friend/Classmate = 0 (0.0%)
 Other = 2 (2.9%)

8. Theories of Intelligence
• You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you can't really do much
to change it.
• You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.
• You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic
intelligence.
• No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it
quite a bit.
• You can change your basic intelligence level considerably.

9. Results
Incremental (>2.5) 53 (75.7%)
Neutral (=2.5) 0 (0.0%)
Entity (<2.5) 17 (24.3%)
Strong incremental (≥3) 35 (50.0%)
Strong entity (≤2) 6 (8.6%)
Mean = 2.81

10. Goal orientation
• It’s much more important for me to learn things in my classes than it is to
get the best grades.
• Although I hate to admit it, I sometimes would rather do well in a class than
learn a lot.
• If I knew I wasn’t going to do well at a task, I probably wouldn’t do it even if
I might learn a lot from it.
• If I had to choose between getting a good grade and being challenged in
class, I would choose…
 Getting a good grade or being challenged in class.

11. Results
Mastery (>2.5) 21 (30.0%)
Neutral (=2.5) 7 (10.0%)
Performance (<2.5) 40 (60.0%)
Strong mastery (≥3) 19 (27.2%)
Strong performance (≤2) 30 (42.9%)
Mean = 2.43

12. Resources
• Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY:
Random House.
• Dweck, C.S. (2000). Self-theories: Their role in motivation, personality,
development, Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
• Folk, A.L. (2016). Academic reference and instruction librarians and
Dweck’s theories of intelligence. College & Research Libraries, 77(3), 302-
313.
• Hunter, J. (2016, July). A lasting learning legacy: Helping students develop
growth mindsets for education and beyond. PA Forward Information
Literacy Summit 2016. University Park, PA. 60-minute presentation.
• Phillips, Y. (2016, June). Setback? Exploring failure and resilience in the
library. Library Instruction West 2016. Salt Lake City, UT. 60-minute
presentation.

13. Thank you!
Any questions? 