Infants can learn the value of persistence by observing adult behavior Effort and hard work have long been regarded as key to achievement and success. But individuals hold different beliefs about how important effort is in determining success, relative to pure talent or natural skill. Recent research has shown that holding a growth mindset—that is, a set of beliefs that emphasize the malleability of intelligence and skill, focus on hard work and effort rather than talent, and view failures and setbacks as potential learning opportunities—may predict later academic and even life success (1–3). Moreover, teaching students to focus on effort and see failures as learning opportunities presents a promising lever for interventions to boost individual achievement and outcomes (4). But are such beliefs or mindsets something akin to a heritable personality trait, or could adults play a key role in fostering it in children from a very young age? On page 1290 of this issue, Leonard et al. (5) show that infants can learn the value of hard work simply by observing an adult try hard to achieve a goal, leading them to try harder when they face their own challenging task.

中文翻译：

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坚持的社会根源

婴儿可以通过观察大人的行为来学习坚持的价值 努力和努力一直被视为成就和成功的关键。但个人对努力在决定成功方面的重要性持有不同的信念，相对于纯粹的才能或自然技能。最近的研究表明，持有成长心态——即一组强调智力和技能的可塑性、专注于努力工作而不是天赋、将失败和挫折视为潜在学习机会的信念——可以预测以后的学业甚至人生的成功（1-3）。此外，教导学生专注于努力，将失败视为学习机会，为促进个人成就和成果的干预提供了一个有希望的杠杆 (4)。但是，这种信念或心态是否类似于可遗传的人格特质，或者成年人是否可以在儿童很小的时候就在培养这种特质方面发挥关键作用？在本期第 1290 页上，Leonard 等人。(5) 表明婴儿可以通过观察成人努力实现目标，从而在面对自己具有挑战性的任务时更加努力地学习努力工作的价值。