The link above is a study about how rewarding a child, for a task may decrease the motivation to do that task if they expect the reward. I can see how the conclusions of this study would play out to be true in everyday situations. We just discussed a related study in class so i thought it would be a great one for a blog.
If a reward is given every time a task is preformed, then why put effort in the task when your going to get the reward no matter how you preform. I think a reward should be given when the task is not only done, but done well. I also think the reward has to be equally related to the task and each child needs to have a reward that appeals to him or her. (You can't give a little boy who likes trucks a baby doll and expect him to feel rewarded.)
I think this study will be very helpful to parents that have a hard time directing their child's energy into preforming tasks well. It may teach them, when and how to reward each of their children based on each individuals needs.
I think the whole rewarding system can be helpful to get people to do things. Especially parents who have young kids they can give them reward to perhaps clean there room. But then again why should there have to a reward to do something like that. I agree though if they do the task relatively well then they should perhaps get some rewards. For difficult children who refuse to do anything this can maybe get them to do something if they know there going to get something out of doing something.
ReplyDeleteThe key here is that they were studying the “overjustification hypothesis”. Meaning they were rewarded for behaviors that were already rewarding or intrinsic and discovered that it makes them less motivated to do that behavior. The findings proved to me that tangible rewards for intrinsic behaviors do backfire. For example, a man really enjoys working on cars in his free time decides to get a job as a mechanic. When he worked on cars in his free time it was because he actually enjoyed it. Now that he is working as a mechanic his motivation shifts, he is no longer doing it for the enjoyment; he is doing it for the money. On the other hand, non-tangible rewards for intrinsic behaviors may increase motivation. For example a man really enjoys working on cars in his free time and someone complements him on his work. The man then not only has fun working on cars but thinks he is good at it as well; increasing his motivation to work on cars. The reward system is extremely useful… as long as you know how to use it!
ReplyDeleteI think the reward system definitely has to be used correctly and carefully, because it could easily backfire. When I was a kid, I was told to do chores but didn't have a reward to look forward to. Needless to say, my chores were not done very well then dad would yell, so instead my family went with the scare tactic. To this day I hate doing dishes for fear of them not being clean enough and it takes me forever to get them done, because I think they have to be perfect. My motivation for perfection changed when I had to do dishes at my job. In both instances, however, I still absolutely hated doing them. So, even with the reward of a paycheck every two weeks, my attitude toward the chore remained the same. It appears there are a lot of different directions you could take this discussion.
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