Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes is a 1993 book by Alfie Kohn that argues against the use of rewards to incentivize behavior.
Further reading
External links Official website
science
Punished by Rewards
Punished by Rewards is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Punished by Rewards rather than just read about it. In short: Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes is a 1993 book by Alfie Kohn that argues against the use of rewards to incentivize behavior. Further reading External links Official website
Key takeaways
- Punished by Rewards belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
- Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
- Connect Punished by Rewards to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
- Reproduce the core statement of Punished by Rewards from memory before moving on to harder problems.
Reference excerpt
Worked examples
Example 1 — a first encounter with Punished by Rewards
Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Punished by Rewards claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.
Example 2 — changing one variable
Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Punished by Rewards before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.
Example 3 — an exam-style question
Typical questions about Punished by Rewards ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.
Applications of Punished by Rewards
- In research
- Punished by Rewards appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
- In technology and industry
- Engineering practice reuses Punished by Rewards in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
- In the classroom
- Punished by Rewards is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1993 English-language non-fiction books, 1993 non-fiction books, American non-fiction books, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
- In everyday life
- Look for Punished by Rewards outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Punished by Rewards in 20 minutes
- Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
- Close the page and write down what Punished by Rewards means in your own words.
- Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
- Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
- Explain Punished by Rewards out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.
Frequently asked questions
What is Punished by Rewards in simple terms?
Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes is a 1993 book by Alfie Kohn that argues against the use of rewards to incentivize behavior. Further reading External links Official website
Why does Punished by Rewards matter?
Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.
How should I study Punished by Rewards?
Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.
What does this page cover?
It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Punished by Rewards.
Tags
- 1993 English-language non-fiction books
- 1993 non-fiction books
- American non-fiction books
- Behaviorism
- Books about education
- Education book stubs
- English non-fiction books
- Houghton Mifflin books
- Psychology book stubs