Neuromyth: Intrinsic Motivation is Driven by External Reward

One of the best motivators to learn is personal satisfaction.[1] But where does this internal drive come from? Many believe that students are motivated to learn because of what the people around them do, called extrinsic motivation. Starting in the 1970s, it was popular to believe the key to success lay within the now famous self- esteem movement.[2] This has proved, to a certain extent, to be validated by more recent research: A person’s own belief in his or her ability to learn actually influences learning outcomes.[3] What has not panned out in the research is the belief that the development of positive self-esteem in children depends upon praise and positive reinforcements from adults and peers. So, what does makes a child believe in herself? In a very mistaken interpretation of the research, teachers began giving children stickers and rewards for everything they did to “boost their self-esteem.” This misguided practice not only led to disingenuous acts of rewarding kids for simply fulfilling basic expectations (“You followed the instructions? Congratulations! Here’s your sticker.” “You didn’t get into a fight today? Congratulations! Here’s your sticker.”), but also delegitimized sincere feedback and praise for effortful improvement. This operant conditioning thinking led to a revival of external rewards to get kids to do things in schools, which in turn led to the eventual understanding that intrinsic motivation is not always driven by external reward...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Neuromyths extrinsic reward Gifts Intrinsic Motivation praise Source Type: blogs