Study results indicate that overly powerful extrinsic rewards can reduce intrinsic motivation and suggest that there is a need to control unnecessarily powerful reward systems. (Author/DW)

Results of this field experiment supported the prediction that subjects in the expected-award condition would show less subsequent intrinsic interest in the target activity than subjects in either of the other two conditions (unexpected-award and no-award conditions). (Author/KM)

Choices between an immediate reward and a delayed reward of higher value were presented to 66 children three, four, and five years of age who had been randomly assigned to short or long conditions of delay. Regardless of age, children did not choose the delayed reward. (Author/MP)

This study examined (1) the rewards and incentive systems currently used in schools, (2) the relationship between the existing reward system and both the excellence of the school and the behavior of teachers and administrators in searching for alternatives, and (3) the possibility of defining a rewards system for teachers which would elicit…

Questionnaire and telephone interview data were obtained to evaluate an employee incentive program that rewarded nonsmokers with monthly salary bonuses. The program was moderately successful and generally well accepted, although some procedural difficulties occurred. Group-environmental approaches to reduce smoking deserve further attention.…

Explores the relative effects of various types of rewards on children's intrinsic motivation. Subjects were 60 preschool and elementary school children. (MP)

Beginning with preschool years, children compare the rewards they receive with those received by other children. These comparisons have powerful effects upon subsequent self-rewarding behavior, evaluation of rewards and the sharing of rewards with others. A key process in these developments, social comparison," is reviewed in this article.…

Much research has investigated the processes by which individuals gain information about themselves through comparison with others. The simultaneous influence of different sources of social comparison referents and the level of relative performance on subjects' (N=60) allocation of rewards and satisfaction was examined. Male undergraduates,…

Paper presented at Conference on New Approaches to Behavioral Research on Smoking sponsored by the American Cancer Society in Tucson, Arizona, on March 30 and 31, 1972. (DS)

Examines educational research on the effects of rewards and punishments on students' academic performance. Discusses findings on the effects of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, locus of control with students or teacher, the benefits of celebrations and rewards, and implications for the classroom. (JPB)

Two studies were conducted to clarify the role of different minimum performance standards for contingent tangible reinforcement or self-dispensed evaluative reinforcement (in the absence of tangible rewards) in determining the rate and accuracy of learning. Preschool children were presented with a discrimination learning task. Their performance…

Self-reinforcement through positive or aversive covert imagery was studied in obesity treatment. Subjects were randomly assigned to no-imagery, self-punishment followed by self-reward, and self-reward followed by self-punishment conditions. Neither order nor kind of reinforcement made any difference. Both reinforcement groups were superior to…

Analyzes the nature of future-oriented self-control and the psychological processes underlying it. Reports that the self-control in four-year-old children reveals differences in delay behavior. (YP)