Response to Kohn reading, "Studies Find Reward Often No Motivator"

Kohn's article, "Studies Find Rewards Often No Motivator" goes into great detail about how rewards often provide us with more consequences than benefits in the long run because they lead to bad quality, less creative, and less enjoyable work. Studies have found that rewards are actually more discouraging than helpful because they lead one's eye to be set on the prize rather than the actual work because than the work is viewed more as an obligation. Rewards only seem to work if they are restricted to to simple tasks that aren't apart of a continuous routine and not based on performance. The more complex a task is, the more it is hurt by the effects of a reward system. Even verbal support can be harmful and have the same consequential effects as any other form of reward. Human beings simply become uninterested in any task when there is a reward as an outcome because then the task is all about what one will receive after they get the job done and not doing the job itself. Rewards act as a destructive distraction.

Personally, as an art student, it is easy to agree with and understand the ideas behind the destructiveness of using reward systems. Its really hard to try to be creative as an art student when you are trying to follow so many guidelines and instructions to a project or artwork established by the teacher because they're the ones who grade you. It is hard to distinguish when I should go out on a limb and when I should strictly follow the guidelines because it can either have a really great outcome or destroy your grade in class. Personally, I feel that all the freshman foundation classes should follow a pass/fail grading scale simply because they're required courses to help prepare you for the ones a student will be taking in their future to actually pursue their major. The courses you take following those though, will use the average grading system. I feel that the freshman foundation classes should be more focused on experimentation in specific mediums then handing in projects and drawings for a grade. Freshman foundation classes are all about being a learning experience and not necessarily about creating flawless drawings and projects; therefore, having pass/fail grades for these classes will open up students minds and allow them to comfortably get more creative with their artwork.