Incentives

[CyrilMorong]

The following appeared in an article on grade inflation in the Chronicle of Higher Education:

               "Grades motivate (a fallacy according to the article).

               With the exception of orthodox behaviorists,
                    psychologists have come to realize that people can exhibit
                    qualitatively different kinds of motivation: intrinsic, in which the task
                    itself is seen as valuable, and extrinsic, in which the task is just a
                    means to the end of gaining a reward or escaping a punishment.
                    The two are not only distinct but often inversely related. Scores of
                    studies have demonstrated, for example, that the more people are
                    rewarded, the more they come to lose interest in whatever had to
                    be done in order to get the reward. (That conclusion is essentially
                    reaffirmed by the latest major meta-analysis on the topic: a review
                    of 128 studies, published in 1999 by Edward L. Deci, Richard
                    Koestner, and Richard Ryan.)"

Is anyone on the list familiar with this literature?  It sounds like they are saying that incentives don't matter.

Cyril Morong