Examines the effects of reward contingency and positive performance feedback on subsequent intrinsic motivation for an enjoyable task. Subjects were 93 high school students. (CM)

In a study of the effects of an anticipated reward on the interaction between rewarder and rewardee, the hypothesis was advanced that the offer of a reward heightens a child's sense of outerdirectedness and dependency upon the rewarding adult. Twenty-nine preschoolers who had demonstrated some intrinsic interest in puzzles were asked to assemble a…

The reward structure of a classroom refers to the rules under which students are reinforced for academic achievement. Various types of interpersonal reward structures--competitive, cooperative, and independent--are discussed. Studies of the effects of rewards on performance, attitudes and interpersonal relations are reviewed, emphasizing…

Two aspects of motivation were investigated in this study: the use of individual incentives to enhance learning, and the effect of different levels of task difficulty on the effectiveness of these individualized incentives. One hundred-forty-two fourth and fifth grade students were subjects. Individual preferences for rewards that would serve as…

This manual for classroom teachers is designed to teach the application of contingency contracting procedures in the typical instructional setting. A "contingency contract" is an agreement between teacher and student whereby the student, upon demonstration of specific task achievement, receives a reward: permission to participate in a "reinforcing…

One hundred and eight kindergarten and elementary school children, 36 at each of three age levels (5, 7, and 9 years) participated in the experiment. All children were presented a three-part successive discrimination task; original learning, presentation of incidental stimuli, and a test of recongition and recall of the incidental material.…

A study is reported in which the effects of 2 competitive treatments on mean classroom performance, interest and retention were examined with the use of a 10-day vocabulary-learning task. Sixty-six 5th grade classrooms were randomly assigned to one of 3 conditions: (1) control; (2) competition with reward; and (3) competition in a game setting.…

The present study evaluates the immediate effects of an experimentally manipulated social comparison on the subsequent behavior of lower socioeconomic status black children four to five and seven to eight years of age. The effects of four conditions of social comparison are measured with respect to the children's self-reinforcement,…