Children who understand that failing is part of learning tend to do better in school, according to the American Psychological Association. Researchers apparently pushed study subjects through a variety of tests; but with one group of students, the researchers emphasized that it was OK—in fact downright normal—to whiff on the tests. The students who were told that it was all right to fail did markedly better on the tests than those were given no such assurance. Why? Students who were given permission to fail were more relaxed than those who weren’t, and stress tends to short-circuit a person’s ability to learn and achieve. “Fear of failing can hijack the working memory resources, a core component of intellectual ability,” researchers say. “Fear of failing not only hampers performance but also can lead students to avoid difficulty and therefore the opportunities to develop new skills. Because difficulty is inherent to most academic tasks, our goal was to create a safer performance environment where experiencing difficulty would not be associated with lower ability.” (ABC News)