Influence of Rewards

One more example of experimental research, this one nonhypothetical, will
further illustrate the application of this methodology. In 1973, Mark Lepper,
David Greene, and Richard Nisbett tested the hypothesis that when people
are offered external rewards for performing activities that are naturally enjoyable,
their interest in these activities declines. The participants in the
study were nursery school children who had already demonstrated a fondness for coloring with marking pens; this was their preferred activity when
given an opportunity for free play. The children were randomly assigned
to one of three groups. The first group was told previously that they would
receive a “good player award” if they would play with the pens when later
given the opportunity. Group two received the same reward but without advance
notice; they were surprised by the reward. The last group of children
was the control group; they were neither rewarded nor told to expect a reward.
The researchers reasoned that the first group of children, having played
with the pens in order to receive a reward, would now perceive their natural
interest in this activity as lower than before the study. Indeed, when all
groups were later allowed a free play opportunity, it was observed that the
“expected reward” group spent significantly less time than the other groups
in this previously enjoyable activity. Lepper and his colleagues, then, experimentally
supported their hypothesis and reported evidence that reward
causes interest in a previously pleasurable behavior to decline. This research
has implications for instructors; they should carefully consider the kinds of
behavior they reward (with gold stars, lavish praise, high grades, and so on)
as they may, ironically, be producing less of the desired behavior. An academic
activity that is enjoyable play for a child may become tedious work
when a reward system is attached to it.