Jan 27 Flashcards
(35 cards)
quick recap from last class
- intro of extrinsic rewards undermines intrinsic motivation (overjustification effect)
- see this at behavioural and neural level
^ behaviour: lack of persistence/voluntary engagement in task once extrinsic reward is removed
^ neural: reward-related neural regions ie. ventral striatum show lower activation once reward is removed
extrinsic rewards: impacts on learning
extrinsic rewards INTERFERE with the process and quality of learning
FOCUS SHIFTS from mastery and learning, to getting the reward
learn info at surface level, but at the cost of deeper conceptual understanding (poorer memory performance later on likely due to more shallow encoding)
extrinsic rewards’ effects on persistence
- when rewarded: persist only until REWARD CRITERION is OBTAINED
- when not rewarded: persist until CURIOSITY is satisfied and/or MASTERY is attained
reward’s impact on learning study - elementary school kids RESULTS
elementary school children expecting to be tested on a passage display GREATER ROTE MEMORIZATION
but LESS CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING
- exhibit STEEPER DECLINE in rote memorization after the test
- also expressed feeling LESS INTEREST in the passage, and feeling MORE PRESSURE
across diff participant populations and different tasks, rewards have been shown to undermine performance on…
complex tasks
that require deep thinking, creativity and problem solving
(heuristic tasks)
heuristic tasks
tasks that involve:
- deep thinking
- creativity
- problem solving
algorithmic tasks
(contrast with heuristic tasks)
more straightforward
there’s a clear step-by-step path to the solution
extrinsic rewards: heuristic versus algorithmic tasks
extrinsic rewards may INCREASE OUTPUT for ALGORITHMIC tasks
but HURT PERFORMANCE and intrinsic motivation on HEURISTIC tasks
“rewards don’t undermine people’s intrinsic motivation for dull tasks because there’s little or no intrinsic motivation to be undermined”
modern economies increasingly rely on what kind of work?
heuristic work
means that the hurt performance and intrinsic motivation caused by extrinsic rewards are particularly worrisome
task of mounting the candle on the wall involves…
(refresher: given a candle, box of push-pins, matches and asked to mount the candle to the wall)
involves overcoming functional fixedness
functional fixedness
mental block that prevents us from seeing alternative uses for familiar objects
can hinder problem solving and creativity
mounting candle on wall study setup
asked to mount candle to wall
2 groups:
- CONTROLS: “we’d like to obtain norms on time needed to solve the problem”
- INCENTIVIZED P’s: “the top 25% of the 5s in your group will win $5 each; the best will receive $20. time to solve will be the criterion used”
mounting candle on wall study results
incentivized Ps took ~3 mins longer to solve the problem in CHALLENGING (HEURISTIC) condition (tacks are in a box)
but SLIGHTLY (non-significantly) faster in EASY (ALGORITHMIC) condition (box placed on table separately)
magic markers study setup
3-5 year old kids at nursery school given chance to play with magic markers
high initial levels of intrinsic interest
assigned to 1 of 3 conditions:
- expected reward (“good player” ribbon)
- unexpected reward
- no reward
magic markers study results
- DECLINE in intrinsic motivation in the EXPECTED REWARD group
^ no longer interested in playing with markers at follow-up when no reward was offered
- paintings made by this group rated as LOWER-QUALITY by judges unaware of study hypotheses
- subsequently REPLICATED in other age groups
^ extrinsic (expected) rewards produce more quantity, but lower quality
- no detrimental impact on the UNEXPECTED REWARD GROUP
^ “if-then” contingency key to undermining autonomy
non-commissioned works by professional artists rated as…
more CREATIVE relative to non-commissioned works
“not always, but a lot of the time, when you’re doing a piece for someone else it becomes more “work” than joy. when I work for myself there’s the pure joy of creating and I can work through the night and not even know it. on a commissioned piece you have to check yourself - be careful to do what the client wants”
less autonomy!
Mark Twain quote, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer”
“if he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that WORK CONSISTS OF WHATEVER A BODY IS OBLIGED TO DO, AND THAT PLAY CONSISTS OF WHATEVER A BODY ISN’T OBLIGED TO DO. and this would help him to understand why constructing artificial flowers or performing on a tread-mill is work, while rolling ten-pins or climbing Mont Blanc is only amusement. there are wealthy gentlemen in England who drive four-horse passenger coaches twenty or thirty miles on a daily line, in the summer, because the privilege costs them considerable money; but if they were offered wages for the service, they would turn it into work and they would resign”
what happens when we’re given external rewards?
we LOSE our perception of AUTONOMY and sense of OWNERSHIP over our actions
undergo a SHIFT in our understanding of our motivation from an INTERNAL LOCUS of causality to an external locus of causality
we no longer feel like the authors of our own behaviour
same thing happens when we’re pressured or threatened
the extent to which extrinsic rewards undermine creativity depends on…
the EXTENT to which they limit autonomy
ie. when artists consider their commissions as “ENABLING” rather than “CONSTRAINING”, their creativity is maintained
some companies are increasingly focusing on…
autonomy-boosting interventions
ie. “20% time” at Google led to creation of products like Gmail, Google Translate and Google News
that’s a lot of time to spend on non-assigned work, but it tends to be very lucrative for the companies and beneficial for the employees
baseline rewards
things like:
- adequate and equitable pay
- satisfactory working conditions
- job security
their presence doesn’t necessarily lead to intrinsic motivation & better performance
but their absence undermines satisfaction and motivation
the absence of baseline rewards…
undermines satisfaction and motivation
(but their presence doesn’t necessarily lead to intrinsic motivation & better performance)
if baseline conditions aren’t met…
focus will be on UNFAIRNESS of the situation and/or FINANCIAL STRESS
quote on the best use of money as a motivator
“the best use of money as a motivator is to pay people enough to take the issue of money off the table”
