Tough's Coding Speed-Test

Accordingly, Tough elaborates on the coding speed- test, which was conducted by Carmit Segal, a professor at the University of Zurich. He presents an overview of the study, by which he states, “First, participants are given an answer key in which a variety of simple words are each assigned a four-digit identifying number … a multiple choice test that offers five four-digit numbers as potential correct answer for each word … All you have to do is find the right number from the key above and then check that box …” (Tough 67-68). He establishes the parameters of the experiment, and how it is designed to be executed. Participants are given an answer key and are asked to match the word with the correct number. He explains the results of the study
and writes,” … she found that on average, the high-school and college kids did better than the recruits on the cognitive tests. But on the coding-speed test, it was the recruits who did better … more fundamental than clerical skill: the test taker’s inclination and ability to force themselves to care … the recruits, who had more at stake, put more effort …” (Tough 68). According to Tough and Segal, effort is complementary to motivation. As described above, the sample group in the study comprised of high school and college kids, along with recruits. Results from the coding-speed test were compared with the cognitive tests, and revealed that the recruits were able to score higher in the coding-speed test due to more effort. On the other hand, the students performed worse due to a lack of motivation to succeed. Nevertheless, Tough’s assertion is significant because the components of motivation can be inferred and expressed as effort. Motivation is an essential drive mechanism as it allows one to act on current or new challenges and to persevere in the face of difficulties. Effort can be seen a measurable byproduct of such. Later in the readings, Tough focus on the notion of grit.
He establishes the term of grit by which he writes, “Duckworth felt that Levin, who was about her age, possessed some trait that she did not: a passionate commitment to a single mission and an answering dedication to achieve that mission. She decided she needed to name this quality, and choose the word grit” (Tough 74). In accordance to Tough, Duckworth associates the term grit with the qualities of passionate commitment and dedication to accomplish a goal. Thus as an audience, we can presume the meaning of grit, as a character quality, can be defined as the passion and dedication to achieve an objective, whether it be short or long term. Tough then explains the basis and results from the study and states, “Duckworth developed a test to measure grit … the Grit Scale … just a twelve brief statements on which respondents must value themselves … From each statement, respondents score themselves on a five-point scale, ranging from 5 … higher grit scores allowed students who had entered college with relatively low college-board scores to nonetheless achieve high GPAs” (Tough 74-75). Tough maintains that the grit scale is an exam predictive of future success. Participants that scored higher were indicated to have higher grit scores. It illustrated how students with low college-board scores were able to reverse their fortunes and accomplish a high GPA average in college. I quite agree with Tough because I believe the awards from success is largely tied with grit. Sure, cognitive abilities do play a role in how far an individual can mentally succeed in a given, but grit allows an individual to set a goal and to follow it till
completion.