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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Psychology

Western Michigan University

Masters Theses

Motivation

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Examination Of The Impact Of Contingent Praise And Monetary Rewards On Intrinsic Motivation And Creative Performance, Merrilyn Akpapuna Apr 2020

Examination Of The Impact Of Contingent Praise And Monetary Rewards On Intrinsic Motivation And Creative Performance, Merrilyn Akpapuna

Masters Theses

Despite many decades of debate, the question of whether or not extrinsic motivation is detrimental to intrinsic motivation and creativity continues to spark discussion among professionals (Cameron & Pierce, 1994). This is an important issue for business owners who do not want to stifle creativity and intrinsic motivation in an effort to increase productivity. Even though many authors have labelled extrinsic motivation as archaic and harmful (Deci, 1971; Kohn, 1993; Pink, 2009), the available empirical evidence does not match such levels of condemnation. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of several interventions (performance-contingent money, performance-contingent …


Effects Of Altering Motivation In Pigeons Performing A Titrating-Delayed-Matching-To-Sample Task, Zachary J. Zimmermann Jun 2015

Effects Of Altering Motivation In Pigeons Performing A Titrating-Delayed-Matching-To-Sample Task, Zachary J. Zimmermann

Masters Theses

In order to better understand the role motivating operations (MOs) serve in preceding and evoking behavior, it is useful to examine the effects of whether manipulating motivation can influence performance on tasks with known behavioral outcomes. It is well established that altered stimulus control is responsible for changes in responding on tasks of generalization and discrimination. Therefore, if stimulus control could be influenced by MOs, then perhaps stimulus discriminations could be improved by manipulating the relevant MO. To this end, the effects of altering motivation via food deprivation were examined in pigeons using a titrating-delayed-matching-to-sample task. Additional pharmacological variables (i.e., …


The Effects Of Reinforcer-Paired Stimuli On Operant Behavior: Review, Demonstration, And Conceptual Analysis, Timothy Lowell Edwards Aug 2012

The Effects Of Reinforcer-Paired Stimuli On Operant Behavior: Review, Demonstration, And Conceptual Analysis, Timothy Lowell Edwards

Masters Theses

The presentation of stimuli that have been paired with reinforcers may function as a motivating operation in that the efficacy of the reinforcers appears to increase and the class of responses that have been historically followed by those reinforcers increases in strength. This phenomenon has important implications for a number of behavioral concerns including drug addiction and eating disorders. A review of the existing literature examining this phenomenon presented herein suggests that the phenomenon is reliable and robust but that it is reinforcer-specific. In the animal study that is subsequently described, rats show a higher proportion of responding on average …