... decreasing a person's interest in the very behavior the reward exists to encourage. Conversely, when informational reward (i.e. praise) is used, it generally increases internal motivation which is demonstrated by increased interest in the praise activity. This experiment is concerned with the topic of motivation, specifically extrinsic motivation and how the introduction of the former might affect the later. Intrinsic motivation supposedly exists within a person. According to Deci, Benware, and Landy (1974) "A person is intrinsically motivated to engage in a behavior if he does it because the behavior itself is rewarding." On the other hand, extrinsic motivation originates outside of a person; Deci et al. continues: "...a person is extrinsically motivated if he performs the behavior in order to achieve some external reward." pg. 652. There is a great deal of research showing that informational rewards seemingly enhance intrinsic motivation resulting in raised levels of interest in an ...

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