This article was about the reward process which we are all accustom to, and how it can possibly reduce people's motivation towards doing certain tasks.
The experiment took a group of children that liked drawing and split them into three groups: 1. expected a reward, 2. got a surprise reward, and 3. didn't get a reward. After they were all given their rewards (or not given) they were observed for a couple of days. The study showed that the children that had expected to get the reward wouldn't draw spontaniously much anymore, while the children that were suprised about the reward, or didn't get one at all still liked to draw for fun.
The article explained this well for me comparing it to adults. It said that often, adults see getting paid for something as work, and work is 'ALWAYS' painful and tiresome. In this case it shows that adults see anything they may get paid for as painful and tiresome, even if it is something they liked to do in the past. The same can be said for the experiment with the children... all of the children started out liking to draw, yet when a reward was expected, these children didn't want to draw voluntarily anymore.
However, I don't really agree with the article. For instance, I get paid for babysitting, but I still like to do it.. I don't just do it for the money. But if the article were right, I would see babysitting as a painful event that I MUST complete in order to make money...
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Yeah, i agree with your not agreeing with the article. It makes sense in respects to some people, but not all. It broadens the scope of the experiment, applying its results to the entire population. That is where they went wrong because like you i like to mow grass. I don't hate to do it because i know im gonna get paid.
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