intelligent enquiry, mechanisms of reward, motivational misdirects

[Paola Di Maio]

Doing some reading on reward mechanism, thinking,  how can intelligent, educated folks be motivated to renounce their best evolutionary trait * the ability to ask what, why etc

It's because of the tradeoff, reward seeking mechanisms do something to our brain and behaviour . 

A good read below and a topic for scholarly discussion

Motivational Misdirects

(PDF) When rewards go wrong: A tale of five motivational misdirects. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260303246_When_rewards_go_wrong_A_tale_of_five_motivational_misdirects [accessed Apr 28 2025]

s a consequence of rewards, people take less responsibility for motivatingthemselves (Frey and Jegen, 2001), are given information about how rewarding the taskreally is (or is not; Ariely et al., 2006), learn that the organization is (or is not) fair(Masterson et al., 2000), focus on the outcome and not on the process (Kappes andOettingen, 2011), and fail to project the rewards they like in identifying the rewards theywant (Berridge et al., 2009). This is not to say that extrinsic rewards do not have theirplace.

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14We can not depend on intrinsic rewards for everything. As any television episode ofFear Factor will testify, money does motivate. If you can pay them enough, you can getpeople to do almost anything. Furthermore, under the right conditions extrinsic motives canshift with time and experience to intrinsic. Gordon Allport, one of the founding fathers ofpsychology, wrote extensively about “The Functional Autonomy of Motives.” What mightoriginally motivate us to pursue a task, such as a paycheck, is not always what gets us tocontinue with it. For example, Applied Behavioral Analysis has developed an extensivetoolbox of techniques to first prompt and reward a targeted behavior and then fade theprompt and reward. Once the natural and pleasurable consequence of the behavior isrevealed, it does not need external reinforcement. Similarly, Ryan and Deci (2000), whohave dedicated a significant portion of their lives studying this phenomenon under Self-Dete####rmination Theory, found that it is actually possible for extrinsic rewards to fosterintrinsic motivation, if properly implemented. There must be some choice, providing asmuch autonomy as is practical. Also, the individual should feel competent at whatever taskyou are trying to encourage; they must feel capable. And last, yet perhaps mostimportantly, the recipient and the administrator of the reward should feel a connection, arelatedness. Internalization, where the extrinsic becomes intrinsic, helps if you believe theperson administrating the rewards cares about you. Consequently, you usually will find thatverbal rewards – praise –improves intrinsic motivation.So take the time to better acquaint yourself with how rewards are best used. Youwill be able to target your performance dollars to where they matter, and away from wherethey do not. Whether you do is up to you, of course, but as a fellow member of our

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