The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) highlights the importance of equity in education, emphasizing that “equitable education systems ensure that every student can achieve their educational potential regardless of their personal or social circumstances.” Among the various interventions tested to improve educational equality, growth mindset interventions—promoting the belief that intelligence can be developed through effort, practice, and the use of effective strategies —stand out as particularly powerful tools for addressing performance gaps among disadvantaged and vulnerable students. Findings from PISA 2018 reveal that students with a growth mindset consistently outperform their peers in reading, mathematics, and science, with these gains being especially pronounced among disadvantaged, immigrant, and female students (OECD, 2021).

These positive effects stem from the fact that adopting a growth mindset fosters greater perseverance and cognitive engagement, both of which are strongly associated with improved academic performance (Dweck & Yeager, 2019). A growth mindset also helps students to persist in the face of challenges and improve their well-being (Huang et al., 2022; Zhao et al., 2024). However, while the popularization of the growth mindset concept has highlighted the importance of motivation and resilience, it has sometimes overemphasized effort at the expense of equipping students with effective learning tools, such as memory strategies and metacognitive skills. This imbalance can lead to a “false growth mindset,” where perseverance alone is mistakenly viewed as sufficient for success. To fully realize the benefits of a growth mindset, it is essential to couple the belief that intelligence is malleable with evidence-based learning strategies, enabling students to work not just harder, but more importantly, more effectively, by helping them identify how to direct their efforts (Dweck, 2015).

Not all strategies are equally effective, and children are often unaware of these differences (Daugherty & Ofen, 2015). Effective memory strategies, such as mental imagery and self-referencial encoding techniques, have demonstrated remarkable efficacy in promoting retention. Mental imagery involves generating sensory-rich representations of the to-be remembered material, transforming concepts into vivid, memorable scenes. For example, children learning historical facts might use visual imagery to mentally represent key figures or settings, making the information more relatable. Although this strategy is particularly effective for memorizing information (Pearson, 2019), children rarely use it spontaneously (Shing et al., 2016), even though they can quickly acquire it with training, and it significantly enhances their memory performance (Brehmer et al., 2008). Similarly, self-referencial encoding techniques, which encompass various strategies that integrate self-referencing cues (e.g., personal experiences, personal pronoun) during the processing of learning material, have proven to significantly enhance academic performance (Liu et al., 2024), as they engage deeper cognitive and emotional processing. Although these strategies have proven to significantly enhance academic performance, their effective use requires time, training, and sustained effort. Recent studies indicate, however, that targeted interventions can successfully transform students’ beliefs about these strategies and their use, leading to significant performance benefits (Brehmer et al., 2016).

Building on this foundation, the present paper evaluates the integration of growth mindset promotion and memory strategy training among primary school students, examining its impact on beliefs about intelligence, effort, and strategies, as well as memory performance (Study 1). Additionally, it explores the impact of these interventions in greater depth by analyzing how growth mindset and memory strategies specifically influence learning outcomes as a function of the associative demand of the tasks (Study 2). The integration of motivation with the explicit teaching of effective memory strategies is expected to help students channel their motivation toward adopting the most efficient learning techniques, thereby facilitating the acquisition of new skills and knowledge more effectively.

The first study aimed to assess the impact of metacognitive interventions on students’ motivation, beliefs about learning strategies, and episodic memory performance using a pre-test/post-test experimental design. Sixty-four participants (M = 10.2 years old) from four elementary schools in Franche-Comté (France), took part in the study. Within each class, children were assigned to one of the two intervention groups (metacognitive vs. control) as a function of their pre-test scores to ensure similar baseline performance in the two groups. The study spanned seven weeks, and comprised three main phases: a pre-test, the intervention phase, and a post-test. The metacognitive group received an intervention that promoted a growth mindset (i.e., the belief that intelligence can be developed) and memory strategies (i.e., mental imagery and self-reference). The control group received a non-relevant science curriculum of equivalent duration. During both the pre-test and post-test, students completed three tasks: an episodic memory task, a reasoning test as an interference task, and a questionnaire assessing their theories of intelligence and beliefs about effort. Additionally, the post-test included a questionnaire assessing students’ beliefs about and use of learning strategies. The second study aimed to disentangle the impact of each component of the metacognitive intervention (i.e., motivational and cognitive) on memory strategies, motivation and memory performance as a function of the associative demand of the task (high vs. low demand). Ninety students (M = 10.5 years old) from six different elementary classes in Franche-Comté (France), participated in the study. Conducted over six weeks, the children participated in three main phases: a pre-test, two interventions and two post-tests. In the metacognitive group, participants first engaged in an intervention targeting motivation (i.e., through growth mindset) and subsequently participated in a second intervention teaching memory strategies (i.e., mental imagery and self-reference). The control group followed a non-relevant science curriculum, with both interventions matched in duration to ensure consistency. Following each intervention, participants completed tasks assessing intelligence and effort beliefs, reported effort. Memory performance was assessed with two verbal paired-associated memory tasks (a low associative demanding task - word pairs learning task vs. a high associative demanding task – non word / word pairs learning task). Additionally, the post-test included a questionnaire assessing students’ beliefs about and use of learning strategies.

This research evaluated the effectiveness of classroom interventions that combined growth mindset promotion and memory strategy training in enhancing students’ beliefs, motivation, and memory performance. The findings provide compelling evidence for the complementary roles of motivational and cognitive interventions in improving learning outcomes. Study 1 demonstrated that a series of four one-hour interventions not only reshaped students’ beliefs about intelligence and effort but also increased their understanding, adoption, and efficacy judgments of effective memory strategies such as mental imagery and self-reference. These cognitive and motivational shifts translated into significant improvements in episodic memory performance, underscoring the benefits of integrating mindset and strategy training in educational contexts (Dorgnier et al., 2024). Study 2 went further by disentangling the unique contributions of the motivational and cognitive components. The results revealed that memory strategy training was particularly effective in promoting the use of efficient learning strategies and enhancing memory performance, but primarily in tasks with low associative demands. In contrast, growth mindset interventions proved especially beneficial for tasks with higher cognitive demands, where motivational resilience was critical to overcoming challenges. This nuanced understanding highlights how the interplay between motivation and cognition can be leveraged to optimize learning in different contexts. By simultaneously targeting beliefs about intelligence and the use of effective learning strategies, these interventions provide a practical and scalable solution to improve learning outcomes and enable all students to reach their full potential. Future research should investigate the long-term impact of such interventions across diverse populations, including those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and assess their integration into traditional teaching practices, where they can complement existing methods to foster motivation and learning. By prioritizing strategies that address both motivational and cognitive dimensions, educators and policymakers can build more inclusive and effective education systems, ultimately reducing inequalities and enhancing educational opportunities for all students.

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