Effects of Reinforcement Programs on Intrinsic Motivation

Attribution Theory has led to predictions that the use of material reward may impair intrinsic motivation.in the rewarded activity (decreased play effects). A review of the pertinent literature reveals, however, (a) that attribution.resparch has failed to reliably demonstrate that dcreased play effects occur in minimal-trial studies (b) that for what effects are reported, alternative and more plausible explanations are:available;. and (c) that reinforcement programs (multiple-trial studies) do not produce decreased play effects beyond chance levels. Implications and recommendations based on the review are offered. (Author) Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished * materials not available from other sources. "ERIC makes every, effort * * to obtain the best copy available. Nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality