An experimenter visits a preschool with a big box of markers and paper. The children are told that they can draw as many picture
s as they want. The children enjoy the task very much. On another visit, the children are told that for every picture they draw they will earn a prize. Two weeks later when the experimenter returns, he offers the markers and paper for drawing but says that no prizes will be given. The children draw very little with the markers because:
extrinsic rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation. Now that the children have been given a reward they have Higher Expectations than they did before.
The punishment was justified because it was simple and
straight to the point for the baby’s name to be mention early. It reflected the
characters actions and if there was any punishment that was even crueler that
wouldn’t be very fair.
