Preferred Reward Research Articles

Perceptions of Black millennials in public and private schools about the mix of rewards offered in the schools

This study explored the perceptions of the millennial teachers on how they can be motivated, attracted and retained in teaching in public and private schools. Adopting the quantitative research design and the stratified random sampling method, data were collected from 215 millennials drawn from public and private schools in Johannesburg North with a structured questionnaire. The studied found that extrinsic rewards remained the preferred rewards by the millennials. They were extremely dissatisfied with the basic remunerations, performance management rewards, career growth and advancement, opportunities for development in the schools. Although they were significantly motivated to take up teaching by basic pay and bonuses, to retain them in teaching required opportunities for development, career growth and advancement, and good relationships in the schools. The study recommended developing policies and best practices by Ministry of Education on mix of rewards to attract and retain qualified Millennials into teaching and enhance teacher commitment.

A common stay-on-goal mechanism in anterior cingulate cortex for information and effort choices.

Humans and non-humans alike often make choices to gain information, even when the information cannot be used to change the outcome. Prior research has shown the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is important for evaluating options involving reward-predictive information. Here we studied the role of ACC in information choices using optical inhibition to evaluate the contribution of this region during specific epochs of decision making. Rats could choose between an uninformative option followed by a cue that predicted reward 50% of the time vs. a fully informative option that signaled outcomes with certainty, but was rewarded only 20% of the time. Reward seeking during the informative S+ cue decreased following ACC inhibition, indicating a causal contribution of this region in supporting reward expectation to a cue signaling reward with certainty. Separately in a positive control experiment and in support of a known role for this region in sustaining high-effort behavior for preferred rewards, we observed reduced lever presses and lower breakpoints in effort choices following ACC inhibition. The lack of changes in reward latencies in both types of decisions indicate the motivational value of rewards remained intact, revealing instead a common role for ACC in maintaining persistence toward certain and valuable rewards.

Probabilistic inference and Bayesian-like estimation in animals: Empirical evidence.

Animals often make decisions without perfect knowledge of environmental parameters like the quality of an encountered food patch or a potential mate. Theoreticians often assume animals make such decisions using a Bayesian updating process that combines prior information about the frequency distribution of resources in the environment with sample information from an encountered resource; such a process leads to decisions that maximize fitness, given the available information. I examine three aspects of empirical work that shed light on the idea that animals can make such decisions in a Bayesian-like manner. First, many animals are sensitive to variance differences in behavioral options, one metric used to characterize frequency distributions. Second, several species use information about the relative frequency of preferred versus nonpreferred items in different populations to make probabilistic inferences about samples taken from populations in a manner that results in maximizing the likelihood of obtaining a preferred reward. Third, the predictions of Bayesian models often match the behavior of individuals in two main approaches. One approach compares behavior to models that make different assumptions about how individuals estimate the quality of an environmental parameter. The patch exploitation behavior of nine species of birds and mammals has matched the predictions of Bayesian models. The other approach compares the behavior of individuals who learn, through experience, different frequency distributions of resources in their environment. The behavior of three bird species and bumblebees exploiting food patches and fruit flies selecting mates is influenced by their experience learning different frequency distributions of food and mates, respectively, in ways consistent with Bayesian models. These studies lend support to the idea that animals may combine prior and sample information in a Bayesian-like manner to make decisions under uncertainty, but additional work on a greater diversity of species is required to better understand the generality of this ability.

The effects of cognitive and environmental factors on children’s early saving

Saving plays an important role in children’s everyday lives. We examine the impact of a verbal prompt on children’s saving in a laboratory task and whether cognitive and environmental factors predict children’s performance on this task, as well as on parent-reported child saving behaviors. One hundred and eighty-seven 3- to 7-year-olds completed the saving task, in which they received tokens that they could spend immediately on a less preferred reward or save for a more preferred reward later. Half the children received a verbal prompt to save whereas the other half did not. Significantly more children in the prompt condition saved at least one token for their preferred reward, suggesting that highlighting saving as an option increases children’s saving. Parent-reported child saving was also significantly predicted by parent-reported inhibitory control and the saving practices parents reported with their child. We discuss implications of our findings for fostering adaptive future-oriented reasoning in childhood.

Unveiling Consumer Preferences and Intentions for Cocreated Features of a Combined Diet and Physical Activity App: Cross-Sectional Study in 4 European Countries.

Numerous mobile health apps are marketed globally, and these have specific features including physical activity tracking, motivational feedback, and recipe provision. It is important to understand which features individuals prefer and whether these preferences differ between consumer groups. In this study, we aimed to identify consumers' most preferred features and rewards for a mobile app that targets healthy eating and physical activity and to reduce the number of individual mobile health app features to a smaller number of key categories as perceived by consumers. In addition, we investigated the impact of differences in consumers' BMI and self-efficacy on their intention to use and willingness to pay for such an app. Finally, we identified the characteristics of different target groups of consumers and their responses toward app features via cluster analysis. A total of 212 participants from France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Germany were recruited via the web to answer questions about app features, motivation, self-efficacy, demographics, and geographic factors. It is important to note that our study included an evenly distributed sample of people in the age range of 23 to 50 years (23-35 and 35-50 years). The app features in question were generated from a 14-day cocreation session by a group of consumers from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. "Home work out suggestions," "exercise tips," and "progress charts" were the most preferred app features, whereas "gift vouchers" and "shopping discounts" were the most preferred rewards. "Connections with other communication apps" was the least preferred feature, and "charitable giving" was the least preferred reward. Importantly, consumers' positive attitude toward the "social support and connectedness and mindfulness" app feature predicted willingness to pay for such an app (β=.229; P=.004). Differences in consumers' health status, motivational factors, and basic demographics moderated these results and consumers' intention to use and willingness to pay for such an app. Notably, younger and more motivated consumers with more experience and knowledge about health apps indicated more positive attitudes and intentions to use and willingness to pay for this type of app. This study indicated that consumers tend to prefer app features that are activity based and demonstrate progress. It also suggested a potential role for monetary rewards in promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors. Moreover, the results highlighted the role of consumers' health status, motivational factors, and socioeconomic status in predicting their app use. These results provide up-to-date, practical, and pragmatic information for the future design and operation of mobile health apps.

Social influences on delayed gratification in New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays.

Self-control underlies goal-directed behaviour in humans and other animals. Delayed gratification - a measure of self-control - requires the ability to tolerate delays and/or invest more effort to obtain a reward of higher value over one of lower value, such as food or mates. Social context, in particular, the presence of competitors, may influence delayed gratification. We adapted the 'rotating-tray' paradigm, where subjects need to forgo an immediate, lower-quality (i.e. less preferred) reward for a delayed, higher-quality (i.e. more preferred) one, to test social influences on delayed gratification in two corvid species: New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays. We compared choices for immediate vs. delayed rewards while alone, in the presence of a competitive conspecific and in the presence of a non-competitive conspecific. We predicted that, given the increased risk of losing a reward with a competitor present, both species would similarly, flexibly alter their choices in the presence of a conspecific compared to when alone. We found that species differed: jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward than the crows. We also found that jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward when a competitor or non-competitor was present than when alone, or when a competitor was present compared to a non-competitor, while the crows selected the delayed, highly preferred reward irrespective of social presence. We discuss our findings in relation to species differences in socio-ecological factors related to adult sociality and food-caching (storing). New Caledonian crows are more socially tolerant and moderate cachers, while Eurasian jays are highly territorial and intense cachers that may have evolved under the social context of cache pilfering and cache protection strategies. Therefore, flexibility (or inflexibility) in delay of gratification under different social contexts may relate to the species' social tolerance and related risk of competition.

What do hotel managers think of employee rewards? An exploration of five-star hotels in Cape Town

Reward systems are important tools that management can use to motivate employees; the main objective of organizations in awarding rewards is to attract and retain efficient, productive, and motivated employees. However, there is no evidence available regarding managers' perceptions of employee rewards in five-star hotels in Cape Town. Therefore, this study aims to explore the perceptions of five-star hotel managers about the reward systems offered to employees. Further, this paper attempts to explore the influence and impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the employee reward systems offered at five-star hotels. A total of 14 interviews were conducted with managers working in four selected five-star hotels. The study used semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data. The data were analysed using Creswell’s six steps. The study's findings indicate that managers offered distinct types of rewards to their employees, including extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Managers revealed that extrinsic rewards, specifically money, are the most preferred rewards. The study revealed that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic led to hotels adjusting their employee reward systems to offer less extrinsic rewards and more intrinsic rewards. This paper concludes by recommending strategies to hotel management for enhancing the type of rewards offered to employees and offering utilisation of effective intrinsic rewards. This is to ensure that employees increase their value towards intrinsic rewards as much as they value extrinsic rewards Implications for future research are also presented.

Exploring the utility of robots as distractors during a delay-of-gratification task in preschool children.

The development of executive function (EF) in children, particularly with respect to self-regulation skills, has been linked to long-term benefits in terms of social and health outcomes. One such skill is the ability to deal with frustrations when waiting for a delayed, preferred reward. Although robots have increasingly been utilized in educational situations that involve teaching psychosocial skills to children, including various aspects related to self-control, the utility of robots in increasing the likelihood of self-imposed delay of gratification remains to be explored. Using a single-case experimental design, the present study exposed 24 preschoolers to three experimental conditions where a choice was provided between an immediately available reward and a delayed but larger reward. The likelihood of waiting increased over sessions when children were simply asked to wait, but waiting times did not increase further during a condition where teachers offered activities as a distraction. However, when children were exposed to robots and given the opportunity to interact with them, waiting times for the majority of children increased with medium to large effect sizes. Given the positive implications of strong executive function, how it might be increased in children in which it is lacking, limited, or in the process of developing, is of considerable import. This study highlights the effectiveness of robots as a distractor during waiting times and outlines a potential new application of robots in educational contexts.

STUDENTS’ PREFERRED REWARDS ON TASK ACCOMPLISHMENT

This study aims to figure out students’ preference of rewards after the accomplishment of the task given. Understanding the reasons for choosing the preferred reward also becomes the focus of the study. Descriptive study design was chosen to get the depth of understanding about the investigated issue. Semi-structured interview were questioned to 5 senior high school students in attempt to figure out their preferences of teachers rewards. The data were summarized and analyzed descriptively. The findings indicated that students preferred verbal rewards to tangible ones. The reasons for choosing the preferred reward were mostly based on the meaningfulness of the reward itself as well as its influence on their learning and psychological aspects. The study concluded that all factors that can enhance the effectiveness of reward need to be explored and understood. Keywords: Extrinsic reinforcement, reward

Behavioral and physiological response to inequity in bonobos (Pan paniscus).

Inequity aversion (IA), the affective, cognitive, and behavioral response to inequitable outcomes, allows individuals to avoid exploitation and therefore stabilizes cooperation. The presence of IA varies across animal species, which has stimulated research to investigate factors that might explain this variation, and to investigate underlying affective responses. Among great apes, IA is most often studied in chimpanzees. Here, we investigate IA in bonobos, a reputedly tolerant and cooperative species for which few IA studies are available. We describe how bonobos respond to receiving less preferred rewards than a partner in a token exchange task. We show that bonobos respond to receiving less preferred rewards by refusing tokens and rewards, and by leaving the experimental area. Bonobos never refused a trial when receiving preferred rewards, and thus showed no advantageous IA. We also investigate the variability in the disadvantageous IA response on a dyadic level, because the level of IA is expected to vary, depending on characteristics of the dyad. Like in humans and chimpanzees, we show that the tolerance towards inequity was higher in bonobo dyads with more valuable relationships. To study the affective component of IA, we included behavioral and physiological measures of arousal: a displacement behavior (rough self-scratching) and changes in salivary cortisol levels. Both measures of arousal showed large variability, and while analyses on rough self-scratching showed no significant effects, salivary cortisol levels seemed to be lower in subjects that received less than their partner, but higher in subjects that received more than their partner, albeit that both were not significantly different from the equity condition. This suggests that although overcompensated bonobos showed no behavioral response, they might be more aroused. Our data support the cooperation hypothesis on an interspecific and intraspecific level. They show inequity aversion in bonobos, a reputedly cooperative species, and suggest that the variability in IA in bonobos can be explained by their socioecology. Most successful cooperative interactions happen between mothers and their sons and among closely bonded females. The limited need to monitor the partners'investment within these dyads can result in a higher tolerance towards inequity. We therefore suggest future studies to consider relevant socioecological characteristics of the species when designing and analyzing IA studies.

Female squirrel monkeys’ (Saimiri boliviensis) responses to inequity in a group context; testing a link between cooperation and inequity responses

Primates of several species respond negatively to receiving less preferred rewards than a partner for completing the same task (inequity responses), either rejecting rewards or refusing to participate in the task when disadvantaged. This has been linked to cooperation, with species that cooperate frequently refusing to participate in inequity tasks (the 'cooperation hypothesis'). However, inequity is a social response, and previous research has involved dyads, precluding studying the effects of additional social partners. While dyads allow for tighter control in experimental settings, dyadic interactions in nature do not take place in a social vacuum, so understanding the role of the social context is needed to verify that the pattern of results supports the cooperation hypothesis. Here we focus on Bolivian squirrel monkeys, Saimiri boliviensis, a highly social species that does not generally cooperate and has not responded to inequity in previous dyadic research, although they do respond to receiving a lower reward than they expected. In the current study, we provide a more nuanced test by studying female Bolivian squirrel monkeys, the demographic most likely to cooperate in both field and laboratory contexts, in a more socially relevant group setting. For some reward values, females responded in both the inequity condition, rejecting less preferred rewards when they were disadvantaged relative to their social group, and a contrast condition, wherein all animals received a lower reward than they expected, making it difficult to disentangle contrast from inequity. As in capuchin monkeys, refusals increased when monkeys were to receive low-value rewards compared to medium-value rewards. These results suggest that the relationship between cooperation and inequity responses may be more nuanced than previously suggested, with demographic, social context and reward value potentially influencing outcomes even within species.

Perspectives of nurses regarding total rewards and their preferences in Thailand: A qualitative descriptive study.

In this time of global nursing shortages, investment in nursing is vital, and hospitals need to apply a range of strategies to attract and retain nurses. Rewards are an effective strategy for the retention of nurses and help improve the performance and productivity of hospitals. In rural and remote communities, however, nurses may not have access to the rewards that urban-based nurses have. To explore the preferred rewards of registered nurses in rural and remote community hospitals in Thailand. An explanatory mixed-methods design was employed for the overall study, and the results from the qualitative descriptive phase are reported here using the COREQ checklist. We collected data during in-depth interviews with 24 informants from 8 community hospitals. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis. Four major themes regarding reward types were preferred by the nurses: reasonable pay, good benefits, accessible learning and development, and a favorable work environment. A package of total rewards that best suit nurses working in rural and remote areas needs to be implemented, for a combination of different types of rewards has a greater impact than a single reward at both individual and organizational levels. It is crucial to identify those rewards to attract and retain nurses. In Thailand, nursing and health workforce policies need to be based on nurse preferences regarding salary, benefits, and recognition commensurate with other healthcare professionals, including civil servant status, as well as improving the work environment.

Personalized Care in Opioid Use Disorder maintained on Buprenorphine

IntroductionEffectiveness of buprenorphine (BUP) is moderated by medication misuse diversion and non-adherence, and poor retention and high cost. Contingency Managment has added benefit to BUP with Take-home doses as the most preferred reward by Opioid Use Disorder patients.ObjectivesExamine the clinical effectiveness of a novel incentivised medication adherence and abstinence monitoring to enable contingent access to increasing BUP take-home doses.Explore associations with opioid use and retention. Contrast characteristics of polysubstance abusers (PSA) and response to BUP, with single opioid users.MethodsTwo-arm, pragmatic, 16-week outpatient RCT of BUP maintenance.Takehome doses were provided as stepped-approach upto 4-weeks contingent of abstinence (UDS) and adherence according to Therapeutic Drug Monitoring-TDM. Primary outcome and secondard outcomes were % negative UDS for opioids anx retention, respectively. -ResultsOpioid % negative UDS was 76.7% (SD 25.0%) in I-AAM versus 63.5% (SD 34.7%) in TAU (13.3%; 95% [CI] 3.2%–23.3%; Cohen’s d 0.44; 95% CI 0.10–0.87). In I-AAM, 40 participants (57.1%) were retained versus 33 (46.4%) in TAU [OR: 1.54; 95% CI 0.79–2.98). PSA (73.7%, n=104) and carisprodol use increases non-fatal overdose (OR) 3.83, 95% CI 1.25 to 11.71) and 5.31, 95% CI 1.92 to 14.65], respectively. Opioid and non-opioid UDS are positively associated. BUP elimination rate (BUP-EL.R) predicts 26.5% to 65% of negative opioid UDS [Beta - 89.95, 95% CIl -154.20 to -25.70, R2 0.22]. Family enagement increases retention by 3-fold.ConclusionsBUP + incentivised TDM for contingent access to increasing take-home doses increased abstinence. BUP-EL.R seems promising in BUP treatment precision and BUP is clinically valuable in polysubstance abusers.Engaging family enhances retention.DisclosureNo significant relationships.

Token Economy-Based Hospital Bed Allocation to Mitigate Information Asymmetry: Proof-of-Concept Study Through Simulation Implementation.

BackgroundHospital bed management is an important resource allocation task in hospital management, but currently, it is a challenging task. However, acquiring an optimal solution is also difficult because intraorganizational information asymmetry exists. Signaling, as defined in the fields of economics, can be used to mitigate this problem.ObjectiveWe aimed to develop an assignment process that is based on a token economy as signaling intermediary.MethodsWe implemented a game-like simulation, representing token economy–based bed assignments, in which 3 players act as ward managers of 3 inpatient wards (1 each). As a preliminary evaluation, we recruited 9 nurse managers to play and then participate in a survey about qualitative perceptions for current and proposed methods (7-point Likert scale). We also asked them about preferred rewards for collected tokens. In addition, we quantitatively recorded participant pricing behavior.ResultsParticipants scored the token economy–method positively in staff satisfaction (3.89 points vs 2.67 points) and patient safety (4.38 points vs 3.50 points) compared to the current method, but they scored the proposed method negatively for managerial rivalry, staff employee development, and benefit for patients. The majority of participants (7 out of 9) listed human resources as the preferred reward for tokens. There were slight associations between workload information and pricing.ConclusionsSurvey results indicate that the proposed method can improve staff satisfaction and patient safety by increasing the decision-making autonomy of staff but may also increase managerial rivalry, as expected from existing criticism for decentralized decision-making. Participant behavior indicated that token-based pricing can act as a signaling intermediary. Given responses related to rewards, a token system that is designed to incorporate human resource allocation is a promising method. Based on aforementioned discussion, we concluded that a token economy–based bed allocation system has the potential to be an optimal method by mitigating information asymmetry.

The effect of age on discrimination learning and self-control in a marshmallow test for pigs

Both humans and nonhuman animals need to show self-control and wait for a larger or better reward instead of a smaller or less preferred but instant reward on an everyday basis. We investigated whether this ability undergoes ontogenetic development in domestic pigs (similar to what is known in human infants) by testing if and for how long nine- and 16-week-old pigs wait for a larger amount of their preferred reward. In a delay-of-gratification task, animals first learned that a small reward was hidden under a white cup and a large reward under a black cup, and then the delay to deliver the large reward was gradually increased. The results show that older pigs could wait longer for a larger reward than younger pigs (10.6 ± 1.3 s vs. 5.2 ± 1.5 s), thereby confirming our hypothesis of ontogenetic development of self-control in pigs. This self-control is likely to be regulated by the behavioural inhibition system and associated systems. Self-control or, more specifically the lack of it may be involved in the development of abnormal behaviours, not only in humans but also in animals. Therefore, research on self-control in decision-making might provide a new perspective on abnormal behaviours in captive animals.

Non-monetary rewards in education

This paper presents evidence how pupils choose different types of non-monetary rewards for educational attainment. These rewards are external to the learning process, but unlike cash-for-grades rewards internal to the practice of schooling. We collected data from a non-incentivized survey and an incentivized survey, which was part of a larger field experiment. The non-incentivized survey was conducted prior to the field experiment to elicit pupils’ stated preferences over seventeen non-monetary rewards and to choose the rewards for the field experiment. In the incentivized survey, pupils then had the freedom to choose one out of four rewards: (i) a medal, (ii) a parent-letter, (iii) a no-homework voucher, or (iv) a surprise, allowing us to elicit pupils’ valuation for different non-monetary rewards. We found that the preferred non-monetary reward varied by pupils’ ability. Low-performing pupils were significantly more likely to choose the parent-letter than high-performing pupils. Moreover, we found little evidence for heterogeneous preferences by socioeconomic background.

Selective Devaluation Affects the Processing of Preferred Rewards

The present study investigated whether the representation of subjective preferences in the event-related potential is manipulable through selective devaluation, i.e., the consumption of a specific food item until satiety. Thirty-four participants completed a gambling task in which they chose between virtual doors to find one of three snack items, representing a high, medium, or low preference outcome as defined by individual desire-to-eat ratings. In one of two test sessions, they underwent selective devaluation of the high preference outcome. In the other, they completed the task on an empty stomach. Consistent with previous findings, averaged across sessions, amplitudes were increased for more preferred rewards in the time windows of P2, late FRN, and P300. As hypothesised, we also found a selective devaluation effect for the high preference outcome in the P300 time window, reflected in a decrease in amplitude. The present results provide evidence for modulations of reward processing not only by individual factors, such as subjective preferences, but also by the current motivational state. Importantly, the present data suggest that selective devaluation effects in the P300 may be a promising tool to further characterise altered valuation of food rewards in the context of eating disorders and obesity.

Increasing Access to Online Learning for Students With Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were alarming reports of children missing out on online special educational activities due to a lack of access to those resources. We evaluated a simple online intervention using a concurrent multiple baseline design for three second-grade students with disabilities who unreliably accessed the remote curriculum. The dependent variable was the number of daily assignments completed. During baseline, the teacher provided students and parents with educational activities via Google Classroom, and the teacher contacted parents when a student missed educational activities. For intervention, the teacher implemented a task analysis that listed five daily assignments. Students earned preferred rewards contingent on completing all activities. Results showed that the intervention was effective in increasing engagement in online learning.

Nurse Practitioner Preceptor Plan: A Focus on Preceptor Rewards and Preferences.

Recruiting and retaining preceptors is a major challenge for nurse practitioner (NP) programs. The purpose of this project was to identify preceptor rewards that may foster NP preceptor recruitment and retention at one university. Seventy preceptors were surveyed regarding their reward preferences using rewards identified in the literature and among regional NP programs. The most preferred rewards included continuing education credits, professional growth opportunities, maintaining professional relationships with the university, and financial remuneration. To provide NP students with positive and effective clinical experiences, it is essential that NP program leaders understand preceptors' preferences and commit to preceptor support.

Preferences and their correlation between children and their parents' attitudes towards non-pharmacological behaviour guidance techniques - A cross-sectional study.

Dental treatment for children requires the use of behaviour guidance techniques (BGTs), which are used in the dental office to make children cope with dental treatment. Evaluate how children and parents felt towards BGTs used in a dental office, by attitude meter and to correlate them. Children (200) from 7-17 years and their parents were selected randomly to participate in the study. Each child and parent was asked to watch four video scenes of live BGTs, which include Tell Show Do (TSD), Modeling, Reward system, and Hand holding. A questionnaire collected demographic data, and their expressive attitudes were assessed using Line of favour (LOF) scale and Kruskal-Wallis Test. Most preferred BGTs for Group I was modeling, Group II Reward, Group III Tell Show Do, and Group IV was Modeling, with a mean score of 5.95, 6.04, 5.57, and 5.78, respectively. Gender wise preferences, 32% of boys and 34% of girls preferred modeling in Group I, whereas, in Group II, 20% of boys and 21% of girls preferred reward, respectively. Chi-square test revealed that there is no significant difference between the groups and gender for the preference of BGTs in Group I (P=0.893) and Group II (P=0.592). There was no significant correlation between preferences of children and their parents. Modeling was the most preferred BGT for primary school children and parents of High school children. A reward was the most preferred BGT for high school children. TSD was the most preferred BGT for parents of primary school children.