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An Experimental Analysis Of The Classic Overjustification Effect In Rats: Does The Removal Of “Expected” Rewards Alter Behavior In Rats As It Does In Humans?, Eleah Sunde
Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations
The overjustification effect posits that rewards undermine intrinsic motivation, such that an individual’s engagement in previously intrinsically motivating tasks will decrease when a previously reliable reward is withdrawn. This study aimed to determine if this overjustification effect can be demonstrated in rats, with typical confounds related to social and verbal aspects of reward delivery controlled for. Baseline “intrinsic” wheel-running rates of seven SpragueDawley rats were compared to rates that followed administration and withdrawal of a contingent sucrose reward, and to rates of rats in control conditions (n = 7). Consistent with the author’s hypothesis, the reward group’s wheel-running did not …