title: Evidence for the negative impact of reward on self-regulated learning.
abstract: The undermining effect refers to the detrimental impact rewards can have on intrinsic motivation to engage in a behaviour. The current study tested the hypothesis that participants' self-regulated learning behaviours are susceptible to the undermining effect. Participants were assigned to learn a set of Swahili-English word pairs. Half of the participants were offered a reward for performance, and half were not offered a reward. After the initial study phase, participants were permitted to continue studying the words during a free period. The results were consistent with an undermining effect: Participants who were not offered a reward spent more time studying the words during the free period. The results suggest that rewards may negatively impact self-regulated learning behaviours and provide support for the encouragement of intrinsic motivation.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Colorado State University , Fort Collins , CO , USA.
authors.forename: Hillary S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Wehe
authors.forename: Matthew G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Rhodes
authors.forename: Carol A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Seger
mesh_terms: D001245:Association Learning; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D009042:Motivation; D012201:Reward; D000068356:Self-Control / Q000523:psychology; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Motivation; Self-regulated learning; Undermining effect