Students will initially find it easy to engage in the Habits of Mind in very familiar, often simple contexts. However, over time we want them to be able to be alert to opportunities in new, novel and complex situations. Furthermore, students will often rely on external prompts from teachers or others to indicate when to engage in the Habits of Mind . As they develop their alertness, they will become more self-directed and apply the appropriate Habits of Mind spontaneously. As students' competence in persisting increases, for example, they realize that persistence is not appropriate in every situation. Although it is important to persist to accomplish a task, it is not appropriate to persist with an argument in the face of contradictory and important evidence that does not support an argument.