How to deal with discouragement, lack of hope, low intelligence?

[BrownEMS]

I've read "mindset" by Dr. Dweck. And it has inspired me. It has made me feel that the brain is plastic with respect to intelligence and that you can improve your performance/intelligence with continued effort and practice.

For years, my prime motivator and encouragement in academics is the "growth mindset" (intelligence can be grown like a muscle). However, I went to search online for motivational studies (studies that show that continued effort and practice actually increases intelligence), however, to my dismay, I found studies (usually meta-analyses) that show that intelligence is fixed and cannot be improved.--Brain training games only improve performance on the specific games--but not other similar/related games. This did nothing but destroy my hopes in increasing my academic performance and MCAT scores. Since training my brain to study certain MCAT questions only makes me improve in answering that specific question--and not related questions, I feel I can't improve.

If intelligence in genetic, then for sure I'm not intelligent. Considering my extended family, there is no doubt that any genetic determinant of my intelligence would be a disadvantage. If intelligence is based off of environmental factors in early development, then again--for sure I am not intelligent (lived in poverty, under-performed in elementary/middle school, had no desire to study and didn't really read any books).

If you can, please cite resources (preferably journal articles--the peer-reviewed type) that may bring my hope back.

TL;DR: I read studies showing that intelligence is fixed. I had the "growth mindset" (which states that intelligence is plastic and cognitive functions improve with continued effort and practice--just like muscle size can increase with effort). Now, I have abandoned the "growth mindset, and find myself discouraged in my mental abilities--I don't feel I can perform well in MCAT/medical school.

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[KungFuPanda123]

You're just going to have to work harder than someone who is naturally gifted/was fortunate enough to grow up in an intellectually stimulating environment as a child. There's nothing wrong with that. There's also no doubt in my mind that you have strengths in other categories outside of purely academics; I could tell by your post itself that you have humility and it seems like you have the ability to empathize. These are tremendous strengths and will help you along the way to becoming a doc, whether it means being able to network more effectively than other people or just simply using your amazing bedside manners to make a sick patient feel comfortable.

Keep your chin up and have at it! Don't let yourself get down over something that you haven't even begun to start the journey on

 

[MareNostrummm]

You're just going to have to work harder than someone who is naturally gifted/was fortunate enough to grow up in an intellectually stimulating environment as a child. There's nothing wrong with that. There's also no doubt in my mind that you have strengths in other categories outside of purely academics; I could tell by your post itself that you have humility and it seems like you have the ability to empathize. These are tremendous strengths and will help you along the way to becoming a doc, whether it means being able to network more effectively than other people or just simply using your amazing bedside manners to make a sick patient feel comfortable.

Keep your chin up and have at it! Don't let yourself get down over something that you haven't even begun to start the journey on

Well said.

But yeah you will always run into someone smarter than you, someone who will do better on every test, with half the time spent studying as you. What are you going to do about it? You can say to yourself, I'll just out work them. But what's the point if you're working yourself to burn out just trying to keep up with the academic equivalents of Michael Jordan?

The best you can do is to develop efficient methods that optimize your learning. Hell you'll pretty much have to. I've known people with amazing GPAs and MCAT scores yet their study methods, discipline, and work ethic are lousy. They can get away with it just from innate abilities alone.

It will be a humbling experience.

 

[MareNostrummm]

double post

 

[efle]

I do not mean this to be disrespectful to any schools/students:

It's somewhat of a myth that you need to be brilliant to end up a physician. You can get mostly B+ and A- grades, and score about average on the MCAT, and still have a great shot at a bunch of DO programs (and even MD programs depending on things like state of residency). People who get into med school with a ~3.5/25 still graduate successfully and pass step exams the vast majority of the time.

So don't worry about this too much unless your best efforts are currently getting you straight B/C grades

 

[JoaoMoutinho]

To chime in with the other posters, I would like to add that intelligence means absolutely nothing without a good work ethic. I've had to learn that the hard way, but a great example (n=1., anecdotal, etc etc etc) would be my father's uncle who has an IQ of ~160 -- 4 standard deviations above the mean -- and was a janitor his whole career. He's still a great guy, but he will be the first to tell you that he immensely regrets not having made the most of his talents. Basically, even if you don't think that you're as smart as everyone around you, you can still be equally successful with good, effective study habits.

 

[PotGoblinsales10]

I do apologize for this long post. I typed this up at 3:30 AM and there may be issues with sentence structure, grammar and flow—however I think it is still worthy enough to post.

It’s true that you can’t increase general intelligence. However, even studies that state that general intelligence cannot be improved, concede that specific cognitive tests and games can be improved with training. I’m going to present quotations from peer-reviewed studies first and then I will sum it up in the discussion below.

1. http://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v6/n2/full/tp2015218a.html The brain is remarkably adaptive. Neuroimaging studies in animals and humans have shown multiple facets of plasticity, manifested as structural changes induced by environment, learning, behavior and emotions… Thus, our results suggest that improvement-related structural plasticity impacts neural responsiveness within the amygdala, which could be essential for achieving anxiety reduction with CBT [cognitive behavioral therapy].
2. http://www.pnas.org/content/105/19/6829.full#ref-31 Although performance on tests of Gf can be improved through direct practice on the tests themselves, there is no evidence that training on any other regimen yields increased Gf [fluid intelligence] in adults. Furthermore, there is a long history of research into cognitive training showing that, although performance on trained tasks can increase dramatically, transfer of this learning to other tasks remains poor.
   
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3607067/ Results from this study showed that the training group made a statistically greater improvement from Time 1 to Time 2 in both their reading skills and their writing skills than the comparison group. The group who received training began with statistically lower writing skills before training, but exceeded the writing skills of the comparison group after training.
   
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26419418 Here we demonstrate that eight weeks of 1:1 cognitive tutoring not only remediates poor performance in children with MLD, but also induces widespread changes in brain activity. Neuroplasticity manifests as normalization of aberrant functional responses in a distributed network of parietal, prefrontal and ventral temporal-occipital areas that support successful numerical problem solving, and is correlated with performance gains.
   
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27917117 Training results revealed that strongly motivated participants reached higher levels of training improvements. Regarding transfer effects, results showed specific patterns of near transfer effects depending on the type of training. Interestingly, it was only the IC training group that showed far transfer to reasoning. Finally, all trained participants showed a shift toward a more proactive mode of cognitive control, highlighting a general effect of training on cognitive flexibility. The present results reveal specific and general modulations of executive control mechanisms after brief training intervention targeting either WM or IC.
   
6. http://www.pnas.org/content/111/25/E2606 The ability of sensory systems to extract information from weak signals in noisy backgrounds can improve with practice, but learning does not typically generalize to untrained stimuli.
   
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4857636/ Significant improvement in HSRT scores occurred following student immersion in an explicit critical-thinking curriculum. The HSRT was useful in detecting these changes, showing that critical-thinking skills can be learned and then assessed over a relatively short period using a standardized, validated assessment tool like the HSRT.
   
8. http://englelab.gatech.edu/2012/shipsteadetal_cogmedtraining.pdf Does Cogmed training enhance mental abilities? The only unequivocal statement that can be made is that Cogmed will improve performance on tasks that resemble Cogmed training. However, for people seeking increased intelligence, improved focus and attentional control, or relief from ADHD, current research suggests that this training program does not provide the desired result.

BRIEF Discussion: (this discussion is not all inclusive, I encourage you to read and analyze the above sources)

The above sources (which is a combination of peer-reviewed meta-analyses and individual studies) make it clear that training only results in improvements in the trained task and this does not translate to general intelligence. So yes, you can’t improve general intelligence, but you can improve a specific skill with training. In other words Practice leads to improvement in trained things, but not in untrained things. But we’ve already known that. You’ve likely had direct first hand evidence of this!

Think of the MCAT as testing specific skills. The MCAT is not an intelligence test—as an example, it tests whether you have developed the skills necessary to analyze and extrapolate from what you know. This is a specific skill that can be improved, along with critical thinking. Source 7 above shows how remediation in a critical thinking curriculum actually improved critical thinking skills. MCAT and doctor skills are no different. They are specific skill tests that can be improved, much like performance on brain games.

What’s more source 8 is an article dedicated to showing that you cannot improve intelligence, yet they concede that “The only unequivocal statement that can be made is that Cogmed [which is a brain training program] will improve performance on tasks that resemble Cogmed training.” Now, let’s make an analogy to the MCAT:

“The only unequivocal statement that can be made is that MCAT training will improve performance on tasks that resemble the MCAT.”

“The only unequivocal statement that can be made is that Physician training will improve performance on tasks that resemble Physician training.”

In conclusion, it is true that you cannot improve general intelligence, but the scientific evidence is extensive and overwhelmingly in support that performance on specific tasks improves significantly with practice. So what does this mean for you? If we assume that you are not intelligent, then you can’t change this, but you CAN change your specific skills because the brain is plastic. You can gain MCAT-specific skills and ace the MCAT. What you have to do is train yourself and get accustomed to thinking “the MCAT way”. You will get accustomed to the style of thinking the MCAT requires and grow the finite skill sets the MCAT tests. The evidence is clear. It is established that the brain is plastic and that learning causes physical changes to the neurons. This is the mechanism that explains how people can improve in trained tasks. So think about it, the more effort you put in into analyzing and learning something, the more physical alterations and rewiring you are performing in your brain. You CAN do it. You CAN gain specific skills that will enable you to improve in those tests.

If you are less intelligent, then you will need more work and effort in order to score well. Don’t see this as a discouragement, but instead, see this as an empowerment. Let his empower you to work harder and improve those specific skills necessary. Don’t get discouraged, the scientific evidence is favoring the growth mindset.

 

[Mclovin0351]

^the above post is why I still enjoy SDN, you guys are awesome. I could only add to OP to search "deliberate practice" and read some of that research.

 

[Neuronix]

This did nothing but destroy my hopes in increasing my academic performance and MCAT scores. Since training my brain to study certain MCAT questions only makes me improve in answering that specific question--and not related questions, I feel I can't improve.

If intelligence in genetic, then for sure I'm not intelligent. Considering my extended family, there is no doubt that any genetic determinant of my intelligence would be a disadvantage. If intelligence is based off of environmental factors in early development, then again--for sure I am not intelligent (lived in poverty, under-performed in elementary/middle school, had no desire to study and didn't really read any books).

I don't understand this post at all.

MCAT prep is just mastering the steps for as many problems as possible. Then you regurgitate for the test. This isn't about intelligence. This is about cramming a bunch of random nonsense into your brain and then regurgitating it later. Even the verbal section is learning strategies for regurgitating what was in the paragraph.

You'll never use chemistry again the rest of your life. Guess what, you have to know it anyway. I look at my life as jumping through a series of hoops. Even as a practicing physician, every day I jump through a series of hoops that are meaningless to me and my patient, but I have to do them because of the government, the institution, some billing requirement, etc. That's going to be your life. At least you'll get paid well for it.

This will be your life as a medical student in spades. Cram a bunch of crap into your head and regurgitate it. That's still my life. I'm studying for my board certification. What am I doing? Cramming as many questions and factoids into my brain as I can so that I can regurgitate them to an oral board examiner.

None of this requires intelligence. The fact that you're asking for freaking journal articles indicates that you have enough brains to be a physician. Do you have the willpower? That is the real question for you and for everyone.

Stimulating environment and genetics? Get real. I grew up poor and my family is very uneducated.

The real problem here is: "had no desire to study." Get the desire. This is on you. The ability to be a pre-med and a med student is not something intrinsic to your brain. Nobody is asking you to be a genius.

 

[Johnathon Baxter]

Everyone who posted here is correct. MCAT tests crystallized intelligence, which are the skills you gain from experience and knowledge. What you are talking about in the OP is fluid intelligence.

Fluid intelligence is " the capacity to reason and solve novel problems, independent of any knowledge from the past.", does that sound like something doctors do? Or are doctors actually trained to utilize knowledge from the past?

Per AAMC, the MCAT tests a specific skill set. You can improve on these skills by practicing them (Crystallized intelligence). When you have done practice questions, you likely would have been exposed to every question type and the methodologies (line of thinking) in most types of critical thinking questions.—you know exactly what line of thinking this question requires, because you have been working on that skill.

As @PotGoblinsales10 and @Neuronix state, medical education is not about intelligence, it is about gaining the specific skills needed. There is no doubt in the scientific community that crystallized intelligence can be gained. Learning skills and new thinking methods is a real thing. Fluid intelligence is hard to change, but “crystallized” intelligence—a person’s knowledge and skills—is not.

 

[Dagrimsta1]

I don't understand this post at all.

MCAT prep is just mastering the steps for as many problems as possible. Then you regurgitate for the test. This isn't about intelligence. This is about cramming a bunch of random nonsense into your brain and then regurgitating it later. Even the verbal section is learning strategies for regurgitating what was in the paragraph.

You'll never use chemistry again the rest of your life. Guess what, you have to know it anyway. I look at my life as jumping through a series of hoops. Even as a practicing physician, every day I jump through a series of hoops that are meaningless to me and my patient, but I have to do them because of the government, the institution, some billing requirement, etc. That's going to be your life. At least you'll get paid well for it.

This will be your life as a medical student in spades. Cram a bunch of crap into your head and regurgitate it. That's still my life. I'm studying for my board certification. What am I doing? Cramming as many questions and factoids into my brain as I can so that I can regurgitate them to an oral board examiner.

None of this requires intelligence. The fact that you're asking for freaking journal articles indicates that you have enough brains to be a physician. Do you have the willpower? That is the real question for you and for everyone.

Stimulating environment and genetics? Get real. I grew up poor and my family is very uneducated.

The real problem here is: "had no desire to study." Get the desire. This is on you. The ability to be a pre-med and a med student is not something intrinsic to your brain. Nobody is asking you to be a genius.

Damn bro, you went in and I completely agree.

It's like saying there shouldn't be short NBA players b/c other players will just tower over them and dog em. Look up Isaiah Thomas, one of the shortest NBA players in history and he will go down a legend. Like it or not, your own work ethic will be your success or your failure.
I don't come from an educated family and yet I'm the first one to finish college let alone about to start med school....
Intelligence will only get you so far, you can be the doctor that remembers all of the pharmacology, kinetics, method of actions, etc but be the doctor who's behind on his billings and as a result is broke and depressed.
Moral of the story, suck it up and start studying.

 

[White Coat Hopefuls]

I agree with some of what's been said and I'm not sure I even understand some of the other stuff here, but I totally believe that you can't just read a bunch of studies and come to the conclusion that there's no point to trying to study for the MCAT if you're not naturally intelligent. BrownEMS, you started your post hopeful, and then by the end, not so much. Don't think everyone applying to medical school is a genius. Don't think everyone on SDN is either although it seems like it most of the time. I'm convinced that most people in medical school, while reasonably smart, have a strong work ethic, which (don't hate me for lack of sources) I don't believe is genetic. I don't know you at all, but from your post you sound like you're probably brighter than the average student. You just have to put the work in. Keep your head up. Do something that brings you real enjoyment and get the focus off yourself and serve some other people, and things will feel better. It's a long, hard road, and lots of us have been in similar shoes. You've got this.