Session Notes

INC

Why conscientiousness people are so successful

“Highly conscientious employees do a series of things better than the rest of us,” says the University of Illinois psychologist Brent Roberts, who studies conscientiousness.

To start, they’re better at goals: setting them, working toward them, and persisting amid setbacks. If a super ambitious goal can’t be realized, they’ll switch to a more attainable one rather than getting discouraged and giving up.

PsyBlog

The authors conclude by saying:

“Given the negative outcomes we find associated with more time spent on homework, our study calls into question the desirability of such diligence and the utility of assigning large quantities of homework in high-performing schools. […] any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development.”

It seems the horrible, wasteful, idiotic culture of pointless ‘busywork’ is alive in well in some high schools.

Slate

In terms of decision style, most people fall short of the creative ideal … unless they are held accountable for their decision-making strategies, they tend to find the easy way out-either by not engaging in very careful thinking or by modelling the choices on the preferences of those who will be evaluating them.