1 . Role models are important for inspiring scientists, but new research suggest that scientists who are known for their hard work are more encouraging than scientists who are viewed as naturally brilliant.
In a series of studies, researchers found that young people were more motivated by scientists whose success was connected with efforts than those whose success was because of natural intelligence, even if that scientist was Albert Einstein.
Danfei Hu, a doctoral student at the Pennsylvania State University, and Janet N. Ann, an assistant professor of Psychology at William Paterson University, said the findings—recently published in Basic and Applied Social Psychology—will help deal with the certain secret about what it takes to succeed in science.
According to the researchers, there is concern in the science community with the number of students who run after careers in science during school only to drop out of those career paths once they graduate from college. To help solve the problem, Hu and Ann wanted to research role models, who give the students specific goals, behavior or strategies they can follow.
The researchers performed studies with 176 and 162 participants in each study respectively. In the first study, all participants read the same story about common struggles a scientist met in his science career. However, half were told the story was about Einstein, while half were told it was about Thomas Edison. Although the stories were the same, participants were more likely to believe natural brilliance was the reason for Einstein’s success. In addition, the participants who believe the story was about Edison were more motivated to complete a series of maths problems.
“This proved that people generally seem to view Einstein as a genius, with his success commonly linked to extraordinary talent,” Hu said. “Edison, on the other hand, is known for failing more than 1,000 times when trying to create the light bulb, and his success is linked to his efforts.” Hu added, “Knowing that something great can be achieved through hard work and efforts, more students will step into the science career confidently.”
1. What kind of scientist is more encouraging?| A．Those who are famous around the world. |
| B．Those who are viewed as naturally brilliant. |
| C．Those who are famous for their hard work. |
| D．Those who are viewed as great inventors. |
| A．There are fewer role models for students to follow. |
| B．Some scientists cannot give students specific goals. |
| C．The students will drop out of school soon. |
| D．Fewer students will work on science. |
| A．They knew the problems were given by Edison. |
| B．They believed they could solve the problems by working hard. |
| C．They believed they were as intelligent as Einstein. |
| D．They knew they were to work together with Einstein and Edison. |
| A．Einstein Is Less Encouraging Than Edison |
| B．Edison’s Achievements Are Greater |
| C．How to Be a Great Scientist |
| D．Einstein’s Success Story |
