Four general classroom reward structures were identified (individual reward contingencies, group reward contingencies, individual competition and group competition) and studies comparing their effectiveness in strengthening the independent academic performance of students were reviewed. The most striking finding was the consistent superiority of…

The relative effectiveness of alternative reward structures in strengthening individual task performance was investigated by operationalizing six reward structure treatments--each of which combined one of two levels of differential group rewarding with one of three levels of differential rewarding within groups. Twelve males and twelve females…

To merge the reinforcement and competition approaches and to test the relative efficacy of reward structures, group vs individual rewarding was paired with three amounts of monetary reward for performance. The math performance of college females was consistent with the differential rewarding hypotheses, whereas males were consistent with a…

The general shortcomings of the traditional classroom reward structure are discussed in light of performance-reward principles of demonstrable effectiveness. Four alternative general reward structures are analyzed, and studies comparing their effectiveness are reviewed. Although none of the reward structures was found to be consistently superior…