The Effects of Material and Symbolic Incentives on the Learning Ability of Low Ses Black Children

Summary

The hypothesis was advanced that ethnic consciousness would be superior to monetary and social rewards in facilitating performance on school-related tasks. The S s were low-socioeconomic-status black children drawn from fourth and fifth grades of a public elementary school in a large urban center. Ss were assigned to four experimental groups: social rewards, ethnic consciousness, monetary reward, and control (no incentive). The Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices and a paired-associate task were the dependent measures. Results indicate that ethnic consciousness enhanced performance at a significantly higher level than did the monetary reward and no-incentive conditions. Monetary and social rewards did not differ significantly. We need to re-examine the notion that material incentive is more effective than symbolic rewards in influencing the motivational system of black children.