How Your Brain Reacts To Mistakes Depends On Your Mindset
- Oct 10, 2022
- 4 min read
Written by: Dr. Sydney Ceruto, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
How do you react when you make mistakes? Your mindset – and how you respond to your errors at the moment – can make a big difference in how quickly you learn and improve.
We all make mistakes. That’s a simple fact of life.
However, certain people respond to their mistakes and errors in a much healthier and more constructive way compared to others.
One of the most powerful shifts in your mindset is thinking of your errors, mistakes, and failures as learning opportunities.
Mistakes aren’t to be ignored. Mistakes aren’t reasons to beat yourself up constantly. Mistakes are just facts that we need to adapt to.
According to one new study published in Psychological Science, when you change how you think about your mistakes, you change the way your brain responds to them.
Researchers first hooked up participants to an EEG to record electrical activity in the brain. Then they had participants perform a simple task where they had to identify the middle letter in a 5-letter series. For example, “MMMMM” or “NNMNN,” where the correct answer is M in both cases (sometimes the middle letter was the same as the other four, and sometimes it was different).
Although it was a super easy test, it became tedious enough that many participants would zone out and make silly mistakes from time to time. You can probably relate to this in similar situations where you get tired, bored, or run low on willpower.
Whenever someone makes a mistake, the brain sends out two signals.
The first signal was when participants realized they messed up – researchers jokingly called this the “Oh crap!” response. The second signal was when participants were trying to correct themselves so that the mistake wouldn’t happen again.
Researchers compared responses in the brain between people who had a growth mindset (“I see mistakes as an opportunity to grow and improve”) vs. fixed mindset (“I see mistakes as a lack of ability”).
Individuals with a growth mindset were faster to bounce back after making a mistake. Their brains also sent out a much stronger signal telling itself, “I’ve made a mistake. I need to pay more attention.”
Overall, they were better at self-monitoring and self-correcting at the moment.
One of the most important findings in this study is how our mindset can influence how our brains operate – it’s more evidence that we can create neuroplasticity by changing our thoughts and attitude.
How does your brain react when you make a mistake?
The Power of Making Mistakes on Purpose
Now we all understand that mistakes are a necessary part of the learning process, but what about making them on purpose?
Another fascinating study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology discovered that even making deliberate errors can facilitate meaningful learning.
For example, consciously making errors and correcting them (such as writing “whales are fish,” then crossing it out and writing “whales are mammals”) was shown to improve long-term memory and retention.
Psychologists call this counter-intuitive approach the derring effect.
One less contrived way to practice this is to teach what you are learning to someone else who is learning it. They may make errors that you wouldn’t make (and vice versa), so you both have the opportunity to correct each other and learn from each other’s mistakes.
This fits perfectly with the student-mentor-peer model of success, where you interact with people at all stages of the learning curve, giving you plenty of opportunities to correct others and be corrected.
Another funny iteration of this idea is Cunningham’s Law, which states, “The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it’s to post the wrong answer.”
People love correcting others when given a chance. Sometimes, the fastest path to learning is to simply share your thoughts and be willing to be wrong.
You’re probably going to make more mistakes in the future, so start making the most of them.
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Dr. Sydney Ceruto, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dr. Sydney Ceruto has completed her doctoral education in the field of Cognitive & Behavioral Neuroscience & is a leading specialist in using your brains natural ability to change neuroplasticity to ensure you reach your desired goals. Her specialty is in helping clients recognize their faulty thinking patterns, change undesirable behaviors, developmental & emotional resiliency, & gain mental clarity.
When Dr. Ceruto was a teenager, she tragically lost both parents. As an only child, the loss of family completely broke her. She became profoundly depressed & began suffering from chronic anxiety. Sydney felt lost, & any form of happiness, confidence, or clarity seemed a long way off. Soon after, she began to pursue her education in medicine at Yale & obtained three masters in psychology & two Ph.D.’s in both cognitive & behavioral neuroscience at NYU. Studying the mind-brain connection was indeed the paradigm for her healing & growth. Dr. Sydney Ceruto created MindLAB Neuroscience over two decades ago. She pioneered an integrative approach based on hard science that has genuinely changed the way people make positive &, more importantly, permanent changes in all areas of their lives. Her program is highly venerated & has debunked all the myths regarding the efficacy of “traditional therapy” & the sad misnomer that you need to be on a counselor’s couch for years or even decades. Several publications have Dr. Sydney Ceruto on staff as a senior writer. She is a proud member of the Forbes Executive Council, Positive Performance Alliance, Wharton Executive Education Program, and Executive Writer for Alternatives Watch and Brainz Magazine. She has an avid intellect, a keen understanding of human nature, & an uncanny ability to connect deeply with clients. Dr. Ceruto is hands-on, accessible, highly intuitive, compassionate & is told … pretty funny!
One of her passions is traveling, which she has done extensively. Dr. Ceruto is an avid sports enthusiast and watches everything from football to Formula 1 racing. She plays golf whenever she can and enjoys exploring other cultures. Dr. Ceruto has one son who graduated from Princeton University and is studying to become a corporate attorney. She also has an affinity for animals and is an adoring mom to her 1.5-pound Micro Cuban Chihuahua, Lolita.
