The Hidden Cost Of Help On Subsequent Task Persistence

• In Event: Poster Session 19
  In Poster Session: Cognitive Processes and Self-Regulated Learning

Abstract

"Task persistence” is believed to be an essential trait for educational attainment and success in many fields. The two experiments described in this paper aimed to test if providing help during problem-solving activities lowered subsequent task persistence in students, and if the nature of help mattered. Student subjects in the 19-35 age group were offered and provided different kinds of hints while solving anagrams and their persistence on a transfer task (comprising a difficult anagram) compared with that of subjects who had not received any help. Findings indicate a hidden cost of providing certain kinds of help, and have implications on the nature and timeliness of help sought by and provided to students in problem solving situations.

Author

• Shuchi Grover, Stanford University