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The basic strategy we use for raising children, teaching students, and managing workers can be summarized in six words: Do this and you'll get that. We dangle goodies (from candy bars to sales commissions) in front of people in much the same way we train the family pet. Drawing on a wealth of psychological research, Alfie Kohn points the way to a more successful strategy based on working with people instead of doing things to them. "Do rewards motivate people?" asks Kohn. "Yes. They motivate people to get rewards." Seasoned with humor and familiar examples, Punished By Rewards presents an argument unsettling to hear but impossible to dismiss.
"Every parent, teacher, and manager should read this book—and hurry."—Thomas Gordon, founder of Parent Effectiveness Training
| Preface | ||
| Pt. 1 | The Case Against Rewards | |
| 1 | Skinner-Boxed: The Legacy of Behaviorism | 3 |
| 2 | Is It Right to Reward? | 19 |
| 3 | Is It Effective to Reward? | 35 |
| 4 | The Trouble With Carrots: Four Reasons Rewards Fail | 49 |
| 5 | Cutting the Interest Rate: The Fifth Reason Rewards Fail | 68 |
| 6 | The Praise Problem | 96 |
| Pt. 2 | Rewards in Practice | |
| 7 | Pay for Performance: Why Behaviorism Doesn't Work in the Workplace | 119 |
| 8 | Lures for Learning: Why Behaviorism Doesn't Work in the Classroom | 142 |
| 9 | Bribes for Behaving: Why Behaviorism Doesn't Help Children Become Good People | 160 |
| Pt. 3 | Beyond Rewards | |
| Introduction | 179 | |
| 10 | Thank God It's Monday: The Roots of Motivation in the Workplace | 181 |
| 11 | Hooked on Learning: The Roots of Motivation in the Classroom | 198 |
| 12 | Good Kids Without Goodies | 228 |
| Appendix A: A Conversation with B. F. Skinner | 259 | |
| Appendix B: What Is Intrinsic Motivation? | 270 | |
| Appendix C: The Behaviorists Talk Back | 277 | |
| Notes | 285 | |
| References | 352 | |
| Name Index | 385 | |
| Subject Index | 387 |
Anonymous
Posted April 3, 2008
Mr.Kohn's insightful analysis on why rewards never have and never will work for anybody is a must read.I've personally been through everything that is described in the book from the 'do it and you'll get a piece of pie after dinner' to 'if you don't get on the honor roll, you aren't getting that new bike you wanted.' I've noticed many things about the people who've criticized Mr.Kohn. For starters, they are usually the very people who exercise the power over kids that's so damaging to everybody. Second, the so called 'PhDs' and 'psychiatrists' who rant and rave about how Kohn supposedly sets up sraw men arguments and then attacks them in his books are setting up and then attacking their own straw men because they're too proud of themselves to admit that Mr. Kohn is right and they're wrong. I'm personally sick and tired of these people. Thank you so much Mr.Kohn! I plan on being a leader of the progressive movement when I teach.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 30, 2002
For anyone who has internal motivation, this book is a must read. If you have ever been insulted by incentives and artifical rewards, this book helps you gain an understanding of why these gimmicks don't work for you. This book not only helps you understand the work place,it also helps you from making the mistake of implementing reward and punishment programs with your children. The work of Alfie Kohn should be read by every parent, educator and business manager who cares about true motivation.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 26, 2001
This book has changed my whole approach to my child and affected my decisions about my child's education. He has severe ADD and he has spent a year in a small class with a rigid and insulting behavior mod system. I knew it was not working but not until I started reading this book did I understand the basis of my intuition. I yanked my child out and feel so positive about the move. I wish Alfie Kohn, the common sense and the already done brain research had more power than the politicians. This book is very dense and a little academic but worth the effort.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 27, 2005
I was looking up for books on how to get straight A. I was also hoping that there is some magic ways to motivate myself. This book talks about how rewarding ruin motivation, and I found its true. If you are one of those students like me hoping to get good grade through rewards, I suggest you to buy this book and read it over. It really helps!
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Posted May 3, 2004
What you will find in this book, if you ignore the first six chapters, are some really good common sense points followed-up with some radical extrapolations. This is a common strategy, so let me inform you of the tactic. Step (1): Set-up a straw man for the opposition. Mr. Kohn does this by proposing that behaviorism is all about 'do this to get that'. This is silly and untrue, though it plays to the uninformed myth. Step (2): Make some common sense points that seem to make you know what you are talking about. Mr. Kohn does this using various studies which either don't say what he implies, or which can just as easily support a real behaviorist interpretation. Once again, the points are made against the 'straw man', not really aginst behaviorism. Step (3): Suggest some of the stuff people usually don't listen to. Here is where Mr. Kohn rants against grades, etc. It is all predictable and designed to reduce the amount of skepticism the weird suggestions are faced with. Read this book to get some of the good ideas, but disregard the first six chapters (straw-man for behaviorism), and the sillier of his other suggestions. Anyway, most of the good stuff from this book can already be had from a good teacher training program, an i/o psychology business minor, or a hundred other good books you might find by using your little mouse on this very site.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 14, 2000
Alfie Kohn puts into print the newest research and truths of behavioral psychology. This was a wonderfully organized and well thought out book. He gives great examples and advice on how to change behavior and brings out an important truth, TRUST. I really enjoyed this book.
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Overview
The basic strategy we use for raising children, teaching students, and managing workers can be summarized in six words: Do this and you'll get that. We dangle goodies (from candy bars to sales commissions) in front of people in much the same way we train the family pet. Drawing on a wealth of psychological research, Alfie Kohn points the way to a more successful strategy based on working with people instead of doing things to them. "Do rewards motivate people?" asks Kohn. "Yes. They motivate people to get ...