There must be a limit to what each of us is capable of accomplishing. I do believe we can all increase our abilities, but only at a certain rate and until a certain point. This is more of an incremental view of ability, however, because I think very few people manage to bring their ability to its maximum; or, we may only reach our maximum ability in one or two specialized areas. In the end, however, we will all hit a point when an increase in ability is either no longer possible or a small increase in ability requires tremendous effort.
This is not necessarily a self-limiting point of view. I believe an individual's rise to the top of their ability would result in the unveiling of a great talent. Each of us is capable of developing a talent in one or more areas, but it needs to be nurtured with effort.
This idea of ability is easily seen in the sports industry. Athletes practice and compete, striving to reach the height of their game. There comes a point, however, when increased effort does not result in an increase in ability. They reach the maximum ability their bodies are capable of.
I believe this is also applicable to cognitive areas. I always struggled with math in high school. Even when I increased effort to achieve higher scores, my ability increased only slightly. Some of my peers were able increase their own abilities with seemingly little effort. There was a difference in our natural abilities, something which allowed them to progress faster than I. And I believe if I were to begin studying math again, I could perhaps understand some of the problems that befuddled me as a teenager, but eventually I would encounter problems I would be unable to solve.
Conversely, I always excelled in music. I can easily remember songs and later pluck the melodies and chords out on guitar or piano. It's a talent I've had since I was a young boy and it seems I acquired it much easier than many of my math buddies. I know that I'll play music for the rest of my life, and improve.
Many programs exist in high schools supporting the view that ability, at least in some subjects, is fixed. Students get to choose electives which allows them to pursue subjects they feel they have an ability in and can improve upon. It also allows them to avoid subjects in which they feel they are limited by ability and will not be able to progress as quickly as their classmates. Also, students can choose to study a subject at a certain level. In Canada, when I attended schools, most courses were offered at advanced, general and basic levels. Students did not have to study all courses at one level, but could choose the level of each individual course. Finally, prerequisite courses require that students attain a certain level of ability before they are entitled to enroll in the course.
There are certainly many school programs which contradict a fixed view of intelligence. The entire educational system seems to based on incremental abilities: putting students into grades based on age and not ability, benchmarks, increasing complexity of material throughout the year, and standardized testing are just a few.
I am not necessarily arguing a fixed or incremental theory, but a little bit of both. All students are capable of improving in all subjects throughout school if they put in the effort. The point where I believe ability is fixed is in a much higher realm of thought then anyone will encounter in high school. We need to expend an immense amount of effort to reach that fixed point. We are not so limited by our weaknesses and certainly unbounded by our strengths.
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