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Abstract.The debate over the effects of the use of extrinsic reinforcement in classrooms, businesses, and societal settings has been occurring for over 30 years. Some theorists have cautioned against the use of reward, whereas others have found little, if any, detrimental effect. This article examines the debate with an emphasis on data-based findings. The extrinsic/intrinsic dichotomy is explored along with seminal studies in both the cognitive and behavioral literatures. The results from important meta-analytic studies are presented. From this review, it is concluded that little detrimental effect is found with the use of external reinforcement. Readers are given specific recommendations on the appropriate use of reinforcement programs in educational settings.
Many educational personnel have at least some rudimentary knowledge of the effects of rewards and/or reinforcement on students' behavior in school settings. Observations of classrooms and school settings frequently reveal evidence of some sort of reward system for academic output and/or appropriate behavior. For example, stickers may be given to students for completed assignments or pizza coupons may be given for appropriate classroom behavior. Schools have successfully employed the use of external rewards for decades (Slavin, 1997). The past 40 years have witnessed the success of the use of reinforcement procedures in the classroom (Allyon & Azrin, 1968; Barrish, Saunders, & Wolf, 1969; Buisson, Murdock, Reynolds, & Cronin, 1995; Cavalier, Ferretti, & Hodges, 1997; O'Leary & Drabman, 1971; Swiezy, Matson, & Box, 1992).
Along with the research on the effectiveness of external reinforcers in the schools, there has been a rise in concern on the part of some educators and psychologists over the use of reward contingency systems in classrooms across the country (Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999a, 1999b, 2001; Kohn, 1993, 1996). The problem, these researchers assert, is the effect an extrinsic reinforcer may have on a student's intrinsic motivation to perform a reinforced task once the reinforcer for that task is withdrawn. These researchers speculate that if reinforcement strategies are used, an individual's perceptions of competence and self-determination will decrease, thereby decreasing that individual's intrinsic motivation to perform the task. For example, in some teacher guidebooks, teachers are told that the use of extrinsic reinforcement can decrease creativity (Tegano, Moran, & Sawyers, 1991). Further, many teacher education programs embrace a cognitive theory...