Enhancing Self-Efficacy and Achievement Through Rewards and Goals: Motivational and Informational Effects

This experiment compared the effects of performance-contingent rewards and proximal goals on children's task motivation, self-efficacy, and skillful performance. Children deficient in division skills received division instruction and solved problems. Some children were offered rewards based on their actual performances (rewards only); others pursued proximal performance goals (goals only); and children in a third condition received rewards and goals (rewards + goals). Although the three experimental treatments led to equally rapid problem solving during training, combining rewards with goals resulted in the highest self-efficacy and division performance. Future research should investigate whether proximal goals and performance-contingent rewards enhance self-efficacy through a common informational process. Implications for teaching are discussed.