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MOTIVATING

STUDENTS TO
LEARN
WHO WE ARE
NEW WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT PEOPLE







By Professor Steven Reiss, Ph.D

09/04/2013 Motivating Students to Learn | Psychology Today
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/who-we-are/201005/motivating-students-learn 1/2
The two theories of intrinsic motivation differ in what they say about
paying students to learn in schools. Multifaceted theory, which identifies
six motivational causes of poor grades, says that for some children
paying them to learn should improve grades. Dualistic theory says that
paying children to learn is a very bad idea that will not work over the long
haul.
As reported in Time magazine (April 19, 2010), Harvard University
Professor Roland Fryer, Jr. has conducted large-scale studies paying
students for reading, grades, various behaviors, and test scores. The
results indicated positive outcomes, especially for paying students to
learn specific skills. The results contradict dualistic theories of intrinsic
and extrinsic motivation. The results support predictions made in a 1975
JPSP article authored by Leonard Sushinsky and myself. At that time, we
stated that the social psychological claim that incentives do not work was
based on rewarding time in activity rather than on rewarding the learning
of skills. f you pay somebody to just stand on a golf course, for example,
you undermine intrinsic interest, but if you pay them to learn how to play
golf, you enhance intrinsic interest.
There is no undermining of extrinsic reward on intrinsic motivation.
Dualistic theory has multiple flaws in logic. t is based on the idea of
motivation as "intrinsic pleasure"; this is the central idea
of philosophical "hedonism," which was shown to be illogical (error of
consequence) in academic philosophy many centuries ago. The
distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is poorly thought out
at a conceptual level, and there is no evidence that motives can be
divided into just two kinds.
The Time magazine article refers to behind the scenes effort to disrupt
Professor Fryer from conducting his research. ntrinsic motivation
theorists called schools to pressure them not to cooperate with Professor
Fryer, and they also called his donors to disrupt his funding. These guys
write books claiming "scientific support" for intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation, but they don't tell you about their organized pressure group
efforts to suppress scientific research that contradicts their
ideological views so the scientific literature will be as they want it. This

New ways of thinking about people
by Steven Reiss, Ph.D.
Motivating Students to Learn
Paying Students to Learn Works
Published on May 31, 2010 by Steven Reiss, Ph.D. in Who We Are

Two views of intrinsic motivation have been discussed in academic psychology. The "multifaceted
theory" says that humans inherit a number of motives common to our species such as the needs for
food, shelter, companionship, respect, independence, and learning. Advocates of such a view
include four generations of Harvard University professors (James, McDougall, Murray, and
McClelland) as well as Abraham Maslow. n my own research, have tried to revive these views,
validating a taxonomy of 16 human needs and creating a standardized assessment tool to assess
how individuals prioritiz universal motives. n contrast, dualistic theory says that human motives can
be divided into just two types, called intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. n other words, they claim we
can review universal human needs and classify some as intrinsic and others as extrinsic. Readers of
this blog know regard the dualistic theory as invalid partially because believe that extrinsic
motivation doesn't exist. All motives common to the species are intrinsic motives. All motivation
arises from 16 intrinsic needs.
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Steven Reiss is Emeritus Professor
of Psychology and Psychiatry at The
Ohio State University.
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The more choice and opportunity that we have, the
more regret we feel.
Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D.

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09/04/2013 Motivating Students to Learn | Psychology Today
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/who-we-are/201005/motivating-students-learn 2/2
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Tags: abraham maslow, academic psychology, assessment tool, food shelter, four generations,
harvard university professor, human motives, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, intrinsic
motivation, jpsp, mcdougall, poor grades, standardized assessment, time magazine, two
theories
isn't science: t is politics and cronyism.
Science requires construct validity, measurement reliability, experimental
control, and interpretation close to the data. ntrinsic-extrinsic motivation
lacks construct validity (evidence that motives actually divide into two
kinds). have seen no measurement reliability studies on the key
behavioral measure. Studies using different measures get different
results. The studies lack experimental controls: Although the literature in
social psychology journals shows that distraction can produce
undermining with novel rewards, the researchers do not control for
distraction. As for interpretations, from the get go social psychologists
have been calling for eliminating incentives from education even though
the studies are about novel reward. Top drug researchers do not
infer the long-term effects of a drug based on a single trial of use, but this
error is deeply rooted in social psychology's approach to motivation. n a
response to me, Edward Deci actually claimed that had to prove the
need for distraction controls, defending his habit of inferring long-term
effects of reward from single trial use. His comment overlooks two
published studies (both in social psychology journals) demonstrating that
distraction undermines intrinsic interest.
congratulate Professor Roland Fryer and his group for ground breaking
research. have no doubt that motivation is multifaceted; that incentives
sometimes work; and that the dualistic theory is invalid. The misuse of
incentives can backfire, which is why you have to go to graduate school
to learn how to use them. Paying students to learn can be a good idea
depending on the student's values and what behavior is rewarded.
would be cautious, for example, about paying a student who is afraid of
failure because the incentive might increase evaluation anxiety. n
contrast, paying a student who is distracted by combativeness, or one
who lacks curiosity, seems like a good idea.


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