Slogan sticker incentive

There is a wall in my house, which is covered with Altman stickers that children get when they go to kindergarten and attend interest classes. There are not only stickers in class, but also various small seals, and toys can also be changed. Stickers and seals are very effective in encouraging children to attend classes, especially for classes with general interests. In order to win attendance awards and change toys, children will insist on attending classes.

Although there must be a brave man under the reward, the children's enthusiasm for class is really high and they are full of expectations for changing gifts. However, as time goes by, when there are no gifts that children like in the gift showcase, children don't like stickers, the novelty of the course passes, and the motivation for class gradually weakens. Some children continue to study, while others quit halfway.

There are many reasons for dropping out of school, such as children don't like it, the time is not suitable, parents don't think it is necessary to continue studying, and there is no time to pick up and drop off. There are probably two reasons for persistence: parents insist and children like it, some have both reasons, and some only account for one of them.

Why do some people persist, while others quit early? Before answering this question, let's take a look at an interesting phenomenon in psychology-Desi effect.

0 1 Desi effect-on the side effects of rewards

Psychologist Edward Desi made a famous experiment, which was called "Desi Experiment", and therefore put forward the "Desi Effect".

Edward Desi randomly selected some students to solve some interesting puzzles by themselves. The experiment is divided into three stages:

In the first stage, all students were not rewarded for answering questions;

In the second stage, the students in the experimental group were divided into two groups, and each time they completed 1 puzzle, they would be rewarded with 1 USD. Students in the non-reward group still solve problems as before, and there is no reward.

In the third stage, during each student's free rest time, observe whether the students are solving problems, as an indicator to judge whether the children are interested in solving problems.

The results show that the students in the reward group solve fewer problems than those in the non-reward group during the rest time. This shows that the students in the non-reward group still maintain great interest in solving problems, while the students in the reward group's interest in solving problems decays faster.

From this, Desi summed up a conclusion called Desi effect: when a person carries out an enjoyable activity, giving him a reward will reduce the intrinsic attraction of this activity to him.

Desi effect is related to the source of human motivation.

There are two kinds of human motivation, internal motivation and external motivation.

As the name implies, internal motivation is a person's heartfelt motivation to do something. For example, what we decide to do because we like and love is what we usually call interest.

External motivation is due to external factors, such as stickers, toys or direct use of money as a reward. These are all external motives.

Both internal motivation and external motivation will generate motivation for people to engage in certain activities, but internal motivation will generate greater power and last for a long time, so there is a saying that "interest is the best teacher."

Internal motivation and external motivation can be converted, and an interesting story illustrates this point.

The story goes like this. The old man used the "Desi effect" to transform the children's internal motivation to play football into external motivation. Once the external motivation is gone, the motivation for children to play football will be gone.

02 negative performance of desi effect

Improper rewards will have many negative effects. Just like the old man in the story, he used the Desi effect to make children give up playing football. This also reflects that the Desi effect will shorten the duration of children's interest. If there are external incentives, they will do it. If there is no incentive, they will not continue, even if they do what they used to like.

Desi effect will make a child lose his concentration when he is engaged in a certain job, because his attention is focused on the reward. Because his motivation in class is reward, the child's concern in class is not what the teacher is talking about and what I should learn, but that I can have some stickers and change toys after class today.

It is difficult to have a clear and unified standard for external rewards, which can easily confuse children. Because of the measurability of external rewards, children will compare in different activities. For example, in Go class, you will get a sticker, but in swimming class, you will get a little Transformers. Children will measure the activity itself by the rewards they get, and think that swimming class is better than Go class, which affects the basic judgment.

Paying too much attention to external rewards will affect children's outlook on life and values. Study is to get rewards, do housework and earn pocket money. Children's behavior can be measured by money, so it is easy for them to form the concept of money first, ignoring that doing homework is what he should do and doing housework is the responsibility of every family member.

A friend's child is 8 years old. She sets a price for every household task, such as sweeping the floor 1, mopping the floor 2, throwing garbage 1, washing dishes 2 ... Children can earn more than ten yuan in pocket money by doing housework every day. Friends think their methods are particularly good. Children are keen on doing housework, earning pocket money and reducing their burden.

Until one day, friends and children went shopping in the supermarket. A friend walked home with two big bags of things and wanted the children to help them with some. The children stood there with their hands free, looking at their embarrassed mother and asking, "How much is it?" A friend said that her babysitting behavior was terrible. She seems to see that she is getting old after decades, and the child stands in front of her bed and asks her how much it costs to bring a glass of water.

03 the correct way to open the reward

Desi effect tells us that rewarding children may be counterproductive, but rewards are not absolutely forbidden. Before rewarding children, we must first make clear what is the original intention of rewarding children.

Why reward children? It is to affirm the child's behavior and guide the child to develop good habits.

Respecting the old and loving the young, reading and writing, and doing housework are all encouraging behaviors. Both adults and children need motivation to do things, both internally and externally. Internal motivation comes from children's hearts, while external motivation can be controlled by adults. If you want to keep your child motivated, you must have corresponding internal motivation, while external motivation can't always work.

Therefore, when external rewards can work, it is when the child has not yet formed internal motivation, or when the internal motivation is not strong enough. Let the child move first through external rewards and gradually guide him to form internal motivation.

For example, children learn piano and painting, and they can't talk much about love without contact. It may be small stickers, small seals and small toys that make him start learning. But in the process of learning, he will gradually realize the charm of music and the fun of painting, and his inner opportunities will become stronger and stronger. Finally, the only thing that can support a child to keep learning is that he wants to learn and likes to learn. Parents' encouragement can only make him sit in the classroom. As for whether his heart is there or not, only he knows.

Please remember the desi effect. When a child does something he likes, rewarding him will reduce the intrinsic attraction of this activity to him. Rewards should be moderate and should not be abused.

Children should do things without rewards, especially material rewards. For example, eating, dressing, doing homework and doing housework within his power are all things he should do. Even if he doesn't have enough internal motivation, parents should let his children finish it through guidance and appropriate pressure. This is his duty and obligation.

Children have enough internal motivation and don't need rewards.

For example, children like to have fun, like taekwondo, and like roller skating. There is no need to use rewards to make children insist. Putting energy into what you like and making progress through hard work is the biggest motivation for children. There is absolutely no need to gild the lily, but it will affect their internal motivation.

When children are unfamiliar with new things and do not have enough intrinsic motivation, parents can appropriately use external incentives to let their children get in touch and understand first, and then they may enter the stage of interest and love. At this time, stickers, seals and toys come in handy. But this is only the initial stage of reward.

When you enter the door, whether you can continue depends on whether you can convert the motivation caused by external rewards into internal motivation. Some children may show strong interest soon, while others warm up quite slowly and never see much love. At this time, the guiding role of parents is highlighted.

Many parents rack their brains to find ways to motivate their children, all kinds of complicated points system and assessment indicators. Actually, it doesn't have to be so complicated. Parents' example is the best way to guide.

(1) Affirming children

Praise children's efforts and achievements, let them see their progress and affirm their efforts. Not only suitable for children, but also suitable for adults. People are born with the need to seek external affirmation and recognition. Recognizing children is the best guidance for children.

② The power of example

I have met a father who can't swim. He is instructing his children to dive theoretically. The children are a little scared. Dad has been saying, don't be afraid, just dive your head. The child looked at his father adoringly and said, Try it. Dad backed away again and again and said, I dare not.

As parents, we can give our children more than theoretical guidance. We should set an example for our children and grow up with them. It applies not only to schools, but also to families.

Many mothers have become all-round talents in the process of accompanying their babies. If you know the staff, you can spell it naturally. He can skate and swim when the car opens its mouth. Naturally, English songs are even more important. You can play Go, by hand, and many new skills are being unlocked one after another. Parents who love learning will have children who love learning.

The best reward for children is not to give him the wealth of Jinshan Yinshan, nor to let him learn various skills in various interest classes to participate in the best schools, but to let him have a pair of optimistic parents who are used to exploring and actively facing life. Parents are children's first teachers and forever teachers. The inheritance of wealth takes time to accumulate, but giving good parents to children only needs our own changes and actions.