Extrinsic incentives have mixed results on effort and achievement, working better when immediate and larger¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · review r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2015 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Incentives reliably raise attendance and enrollment but show mixed results on effort and achievement. → Alexander Koch 2015 q2 i? Immediate high financial rewards and trophies improved low-stakes test performance, while low or delayed rewards did not. → Alexander Koch 2015 (2)

Evidence¶

Alexander Koch 2015¶

Alexander Koch, Julia Nafziger, Helena Skyt Nielsen. (2015). Behavioral economics of education. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 115 (2015) 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2014.09.005

q2 · i? · review · r2

The review reports Gneezy et al.'s (2011) survey of field experiments on extrinsic incentives in schools: incentives 'work well in increasing attendance and enrollment' but have 'mixed results on effort and achievement', working for some students but not others, with gender and ability playing a role.

"Secondly, they summarize that incentives have mixed results on effort and achievement"

Alexander Koch 2015 (2)¶

Alexander Koch, Julia Nafziger, Helena Skyt Nielsen. (2015). Behavioral economics of education. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 115 (2015) 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2014.09.005

q2 · i? · review · r2

Field experiment reported by the review: Levitt et al. (2012) rewarded improvement on a low-stakes standardized test, varying framing, timing, and financial versus non-financial rewards; 'immediate high financial incentives ($20) and non-financial rewards (a trophy) improve performance'. Gain versus loss framing made no difference.

"They find that immediate high financial incentives ($20) and non-financial rewards (a trophy) improve performance, while low financial rewards ($10) do not."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• All program types show positive effects when controlling for other influences, with attendance monitoring and incentives, child care, community service, and school restructuring producing the best results — related
• Expected tangible rewards reduce later free-choice engagement with a rewarded task, while verbal praise does not — related
• Higher-value intentions are more likely to be offloaded than lower-value ones — related
• ManyClasses study found no effect of delayed versus immediate feedback or study incentives across 38 classrooms — related