Choosing problem-solving rewards and Halloween prizes
Delay of gratification and preference for symbolic reward as a function of development, motivation, and personal investment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9790371 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John R Weisz (0000-0002-5560-6814, Cornell University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1978 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 66-78 |
| Publication date | 1978-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Developmental Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0012-1649 • E-ISSN: 1939-0599 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037/0012-1649.14.1.66 |
| OpenAlex | W4230425664, W2121332144 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 10 |
Three experiments were conducted to generate and cross-validate a developmental account of reward preferences in the lifelike condition in which available rewards differ on both the immediate-delayed and material-symbolic dimensions. Children within a broad range of developmental levels selected from arrays in which immediate-material, immediate-symbolic, delayed-material, and delayed-symbolic items were available. In each experiment more mature subjects delayed gratification to maximize reward magnitude and chose rewards symbolic of success more often than did less mature subjects. Analyses indicated that the two reward dimensions were both highly salient in children's thinking and that developmental effects on the two dimensions could be neatly integrated within a 3-stage developmental scale. Developmental effects on this scale and on the separate dimensions persisted across changes in the particular reward items available and changes in location from school testing room to more naturalistic Halloween settings. The findings indicated that preference for symbolic rewards tends to be more pronounced among the mentally retarded than the nonretarded, but cast doubt upon previous interpretations of that group difference. Finally, children's Halloween prize choices suggested that preference for symbolic reward is a function of one's developmental level, the achievement being rewarded, and the extent of one's personal investment in that achievement
Cognitive psychology · Delay of gratification · Developmental psychology · Function (biology · Gratification · Investment (military · Microeconomics · Preference · Scale (ratio · Statistics · Child and Animal Learning Development · Cognitive Abilities and Testing · Cultural Differences and Values · Early Childhood Education and Development · Emotional Intelligence and Performance · Psychology · Social Psychology
Statistical principles in experimental design.
Processes in Delay of Gratification
Toward a cognitive social learning reconceptualization of personality.
Mastery motivation and the need for approval in older children and their relationship to social desirability response tendencies
Field dependence-independence on the Children's Embedded Figures Test
Exposure to rewards and the delay of gratification
Impulsivity-reflectivity and cognitive development in preschoolers
The assessment of effectance motivation in normal and retarded children
Effects of IQ and mental age on hypothesis behavior in normal and retarded children
Preference for delayed reward as a function of age, intelligence, and length of delay interval
| Citations per year | 0.06 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1979 - 2003 (25) |
| Highly cited | No |