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Identify and describe five attitudes, or habits of mind, that are important for a successful scientist to possess.
Certain attitudes help make a scientist successful. Five important attitudes for a scientist are curiosity, honesty, open-mindedness, skepticism, and creativity. Curiosity drives scientists to learn more about the topics they study and encourages them to stick with the topics in spite of setbacks. Scientists who display honesty will always report their observations and results truthfully, which is especially important when the results go against previous ideas or predictions. Open-minded scientists are able to accept new and different ideas, but must also show skepticism, or an attitude of doubt. Often, creativity is required to invent ways to solve difficult problems or produce new things.