The impact of anticipated reward upon cross-age tutoring.

Abstract

The interpersonal interaction and task performance of children were assessed in a cross-age tutoring situation. In the reward condition, 12 sixth-grade girls were promised movie tickets for successfully teaching a sorting game to a first-grade girl. In the no-reward condition, children taught the game without promise of reward. Children were randomly assigned to pairs and conditions. The results indicated more criticism, more demands, and less efficacious use of time in the reward condition. The no-reward condition was marked by a more positive emotional tone, greater learning by the younger children, and fewer errors. The results are viewed as evidence that anticipation of reward generates an instrumental orientation that has deleterious social effects. How does the promise of reward for engaging in an activity affect the attitude and behavior of an individual? The general finding of four previous experiments (Deci, 1972; Kruglanski, Friedman, and Zeevi, 1971; Lepper, Greene, & Nisbett, 1973; Condry & Chambers, Note 1; Smith, Note 2) have suggested that the promise of a reward (prize) for engaging in an activity in which one has a relatively high level of initial intrinsic interest is associated with subsequent deterioration of interest and, in one study, competence in that activity. The previous research, however, has raised many questions, perhaps more than it has answered. It appeared that the most important area for further investigation lay in the mechanisms through which anticipated reward affected motivation and performance. It was assumed that the effects would be most significant in situations involving contingent reward. These previous studies have dealt with essentially nonsocial tasks. The focus has principally been on interest and cognitive performance in the task, with performance being assessed by tests of memory, creativity, and manipulative tasks. The present study investigated a different type of situation, one stressing social interaction. Whereas previous research has focused on cognitive characteristics of the relation between subject and task, the present