This study investigated the effects of reward on the creativity of 80 college students. Subjects at two levels of cognitive ability were assigned to either a rewarded or nonrewarded condition for group administration of two subtests of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Figural Form B). Differences were obtained as a function of reward, task, and subject variables. On the Picture Completion task, the nonrewarded group performed better than the rewarded group, especially on the flexibility measure. On the Circles task, reward led to a decrement in performance for students of high ability but facilitated the performance of students low in ability. The findings suggest that tangible incentives may have a detrimental effect on creativity in certain contexts.
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