The overjustification effect refers to the undermining of one's intrinsic motivation by extrinsic rewards. Researchers have noted the counterintuitive nature of the finding, yet when students are informed of the effect, they are not surprised and often exclaim that “they knew it all along.” This article describes a classroom activity that fostered students' greater appreciation of the overjustification effect. Students were provided a descriptio of research by Leper, Greene, and Nisbett. (1973) and asked to predict outcomes. Evaluation revealed that the students did not “know it all along,” viewed the activity positively, and showed good performance on test items relate to the activity.
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