Toward the Experimental Analysis of “Continuing Motivation”

Abstract

Investigation was made of differences in "continuing motivation" between preschool and third grade children. A paradigm for the study of continuing motivation is described and an attempt made at explicating some possible antecedents of this construct. In particular" the effects of various types of reward received for performance were considered. Results suggest that the addition of extrinsic reward to an intrinsically interesting task reduces one's motivation to perform the task. Further" some possible developmental aspects of continuing motivation were suggested. The importance of considering continuing motivation as a critical educational outcome was discussed.