Why We Do What We Do Ch. 2 Flashcards
impact of rewards on behaviour
Rewards increase the likelihood of behaviours but only so long as the rewards keep coming
curiosity in children
Young children are highly curious but they seem to lose their curiosity in school
behaviourist view of rewards and punishments
people are fundamentally passive and will only respond when the environment tempts them with the opportunity to get rewards or avoid punishments
Deci’s criticsm of the behaviourist view
Assumes that there is no inherent motivation to learn, but children’s curiosity seems to disprove this
intrinsic motivation
being wholly involved in an activity itself and not in reaching a goal
Deci & Vroom Soma study
had college students participate in a challenging and interesting Soma puzzle task. Found that during a free-choice period, the students who had been rewarded monetarily for doing the puzzles were far less likely to play with them just for fun than those who had not been rewarded
Deci & Vroom follow-up study
Deci & Vroom replicated the Soma study in the field and found that once people started getting paid they lost interest in the activity. Then, when the reward stopped, they did not perform as well
impact of monetary rewards on intrinsic motivation
- Monetary reward undermines people’s intrinsic motivation
- People will still do the activity, but their relationship with it becomes strained and instrumental, a sure sign of alienation
deCharms on intrinsic motivation and rewards
- The key to intrinsic motivation is the desire to be the origins of one’s actions rather than a pawn manipulated by external forces
- Rewards turn play into work and the player into a pawn
how does alienation begin
as people lose touch with their intrinsic motivation
coercion
controlling through power and threats
money is a form of ____
control
