Invitation to Psychology

330 Chapter 9 Learning and Conditioning

increase (Cameron, Banko, & Pierce, 2001; Pierce

et al., 2003). The rewards are apt to make you feel

competent rather than controlled. And if you have

always been crazy about reading or about playing

the banjo, you will keep reading or playing even

when you do not happen to be getting a grade or

applause for doing so. In such cases, you will prob-

ably attribute your continued involvement in the

activity to your own intrinsic interests and motiva-

tion rather than to the reward.

So what is the take-home message about extrin-

sic rewards? First, they are often useful or necessary:

Few people would trudge off to work every morning

if they never got paid, and in the classroom, teach-

ers may need to offer incentives to some students.

But extrinsic rewards should be used carefully and

should not be overdone, so that intrinsic pleasure in

an activity can blossom. Educators, employers, and

policy makers can avoid the trap of either–or think-

ing by recognizing that most people do their best

when they get tangible rewards for real achievement

and when they have interesting, challenging, and

varied kinds of work to do.

high schools started offering large cash rewards

to inner-city students who got high scores on

Advanced Placement tests for college, achieve-

ment skyrocketed. Suddenly, disadvantaged mi-

nority students were taking statistics classes on

Saturdays and passing the placement tests in

larger numbers. But these effects might be lim-

ited to a unique combination of already moti-

vated teachers and students. In a study of more

than 27,000 students in Dallas, New York City,

and Chicago, students were paid to read books,

to complete assignments, or for getting good

grades. The financial incentives had no effect.

Although the students were excited about getting

the money, they did not have the basic study skills

they needed to achieve their goals (Fryer, 2011).

As for the relationship between intrinsic and

extrinsic reinforcement, in general, if you get

praise, money, a high grade, or a trophy for do-

ing a task well, for achieving a certain level of

performance, or for improving your performance

rather than for just doing the task, your intrinsic

motivation is not likely to decline; in fact, it may

Recite & Review

Recite: You will earn both extrinsic and intrinsic rewards if you say aloud as much as you can

about behavior modification, when punishment works and when it fails, and the effects of extrinsic

and intrinsic reinforcement.

Review: Next, go back and read this section again.

Now take this Quick Quiz:

A. According to behavioral principles, what is happening here?

1. An adolescent whose parents have hit him for minor transgressions since he was small
   runs away from home.


2. A young woman whose parents paid her to clean her room while she was growing up is a
   slob when she moves to her own apartment.


3. Two parents scold their young daughter every time they catch her sucking her thumb. The
   thumb sucking continues anyway.
   B. Some school systems are rewarding students for perfect attendance by giving them
   money, shopping sprees, laptops, and video games. What are the pros and cons of such
   practices?
   Answers:

Study and Review at MyPsychLab

The physical punishment was painful, and through a process of classical conditioning, the situation in which it 1. A.

occurred also became unpleasant. Because escape from an unpleasant stimulus is negatively reinforcing, the boy ran away.

Extrinsic reinforcers are no longer available, and room-cleaning behavior has been extinguished. Also, extrinsic rewards may 2.

Punishment has failed, possibly because it rewards thumb 3. have displaced the intrinsic satisfaction of having a tidy room.

The B. sucking with attention or because thumb sucking still brings the child pleasure whenever the parents are not around.

rewards may improve attendance, and students who attend more regularly may become more interested in their studies and

do better in school. But extrinsic rewards can also decrease intrinsic motivation, and when they are withdrawn, attendance may

plummet (“If there’s no reward, why should I attend?”). Further, students may come to expect bigger and bigger rewards. In

• attendance, the rewards have backfired and attenpoor some schools, especially those that have de-emphasized penalties for

dance has actually fallen. (Bonus question: Some parents pay their children for everything from brushing their teeth to behaving

in a restaurant. Given the research in this section, what might be the result of this practice?)