Cognitive therapy works within the cognitive model of psychology that views the human brain as an organ that receives, processes, and stores a person’s experiences of the world and then retrieves this information to process new information and respond to new experiences. In addition to storing sensory information, the brain stores emotions, expectations, and beliefs, which it uses to help process and shape future responses. Psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck observed that a patient’s beliefs and expectations often lead to exaggerated emotional responses to problems, so he invented cognitive therapy as a process to help patients identify and restructure their thinking to produce less extreme responses. Dweck’s reflection exercises at the end of each chapter and throughout chapter 8 borrow from cognitive therapy principles and are meant to train the mind to develop a growth mindset.

Part of Ellen Leggett’s 1985 implicit theory of intelligence, entity theory is marked by the belief that intelligence is a fixed entity that cannot be changed. Though people may learn and increase their knowledge levels, their overall intelligence remains static. Dweck’s research builds on Leggett’s work; her concept of the fixed mindset is rooted in the entity theory of intelligence. Dweck’s discussion in Chapter 3 of ability and achievement reflects these ideas and the ways that teachers who subscribe to them can negatively impact their students.