Two Strategies for Reducing the Aversive Effects of Implicit Rewards

Abstract

The effectiveness of two simple strategies designed to reduce the aversive effects of implicitreward conditions (i.e., rewarding only one child of a pair, although both are performing a set task), as previously reported by Sharpley, were tested with 96 Grade 3 and 4 children of both genders. The task used as the dependent variable was timed digit-symbol exercises, and the reward for successful performance was verbal praise and feedback of results. Data indicated that both of the strategies designed to reduce the previously reported aversive effects of implicit rewards were successful but that there was still evidence that direct application of the reward was more reinforcing than implicit conditions. Hypothetical explanations for these findings are discussed, and children's cognitive evaluations of comparative reward conditions are suggested as an important but often overlooked causal variable in child behavior modification procedures.