Dr. Florrie Ng of the University of Illinois built on Dr. Carol Dweck’s praise research (“Brainology: Motivated to Achieve!“) by telling American and Chinese mothers a lie.

During a manufactured break in student testing, Ng informed each mother that her child had performed below average on the first test in a study. Hidden cameras recorded American mothers avoiding negative comments and moving on to discuss other topics with their children. The Chinese mothers, who were just as warm and nurturing toward their children, were recorded making comments along the lines of, “You didn’t concentrate” and “Let’s look over your test.” These mothers spent the majority of the break discussing the test and its importance.

After the break, the Chinese kids’ scores on the second test jumped 33 percent, more than twice the gain of the Americans.

While Dweck and Ng focus primarily on how praise relates to academic performance, their research also demonstrates how various types of parental expectations can positively or negatively impact student persistence and motivation.

Turns out, there’s a circuit in the brain (or as Dr. Robert Cloninger puts it, “a neural network running through the prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum”) that controls how we respond to failure. With the right level of meaningful support, students can learn to use their internal reward center to exert more effort, even during long periods of delayed gratification. Kids with a can-do attitude have learned that perseverance, not external rewards or praise, is the key to overcoming obstacles.

For more on how to avoid raising a “praise junkie,” see the ABC News excerpt from the book Nurture Shock: New Thinking About Children by authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. For parents who aren’t ready to quit the praise habit cold turkey, you can still help build motivation by making your kudos as specific and sincere as possible.