1st July 2015
Motivation: without carrots or sticks
Are you having a hard time motivating yourself to study for the HPAT? The tools we often reach for when we need to get ourselves moving are carrots (rewarding ourselves once a tough job is done) or sticks (depriving ourselves of something we want if we fail to do it). These are "extrinsic rewards". But such extrinsic rewards and punishments are not as effective as intrinsic ones. Int ...
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1st July 2015
The Dangers of Stereotype threat
Stereotype threat can affect the way students perform in the HPAT. Some students are vulnerable to “stereotype threat.” This is being aware the group they belong to is often stereotyped as intellectually inferior. The fear of confirming the stereotype by doing poorly on a test actually creates an anxiety. It is this anxiety that poorly affects their performance on a test, creating a self-fulf ...
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1st July 2015
Springing back from adversity: Resilience
To be mentally tough is to resist the urge to give up in the face of failure, to maintain focus and determination in pursuit of your HPAT goals, and to emerge from adversity even stronger than before. Everyone can benefit from strengthening their resilience skills. Mental toughness comes from thinking like an optimist. People who don’t give up have a habit of interpreting setbacks as temporar ...
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