Effect of Incentives Delivered for Correctly Answered Items on the Measured IQS of Children of Low and High IQ

Abstract

Preschool children were tested on a modified form of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Equal numbers of high and low scoring children were assigned to token and no-token groups. The tokens, exchangeable for back-up items, were shown to be reinforcers for each of the children in the study. Four weeks later, the children were retested. This time children in the token group received tokens for correct answers. High- as well as low-scoring children who received tokens did better than children who did not receive tokens. This suggests that high-scoring children, like low-scoring children, are not all maximally motivated to do their best by intrinsic reinforcement and that preschool children are similar to older children in this regard.