Carryover effects of free reinforcement on children's work completion.
Handing out free prizes right before seat-work can briefly lower accuracy and push kids toward easier tasks.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Jennett et al. (2003) asked if giving kids free rewards before work would hurt their later schoolwork. They used a fixed-time schedule. This means prizes arrived every few minutes no matter what the kids did.
The study used an ABAB reversal design. Kids first worked without free prizes, then got free prizes, then went back to normal, then got prizes again. The children had mixed clinical diagnoses and were in late-elementary grades.
What they found
Free prizes made accuracy drop right away. Kids also picked easier worksheets even though the hard ones paid more points.
The damage was short-lived. When the free prizes stopped, accuracy bounced back and kids chose harder work again.
How this fits with other research
Ghosn et al. (2023) looks like the opposite story. They gave autistic youth small rewards for each correct answer and saw faster, more accurate work. The key difference is contingency. Farah’s rewards were earned; K et al. gave prizes for free.
Herman et al. (1971) also saw gains when kindergarten kids had to earn brief play time. Together these studies show earned rewards help, while free hand-outs can spoil later effort.
Weiss et al. (2001) meta-analysis backs this up. They found rewards only harm motivation when they are not tied to performance. Free prizes fit that risky slot.
Why it matters
If you run token stores, birthday prizes, or non-contingent reinforcement for behavior reduction, keep the free stuff away from academic time. Schedule it after work or on a different day. When you must give free access, watch accuracy and task choice for the next session and be ready to re-train if you see slippage.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Move any free prize time to the end of the session or to a separate day.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Patterns of behavior that persist during transition to a new set of contingencies are referred to as reinforcement history or carryover effects. The authors examined the carryover effects of a fixed-time (FT) schedule of free reinforcement on children's work completion and accuracy. Two female students with learning disabilities participated. During an initial concurrent-choice condition, both children completed more difficult problems reinforced on a richer schedule than easy problems reinforced on a leaner schedule. Exposure to an FT schedule was alternated with subsequent choice conditions in an ABABA design to examine potential carryover effects. During FT conditions, the children completed both types of problems with more errors. During subsequent choice conditions, errors were high initially but decreased, and both children completed easy problems for the first few sessions despite their leaner reinforcement schedule. The potential for detrimental effects of free reinforcement on children's work completion is discussed.
Behavior modification, 2003 · doi:10.1177/0145445503255572