Explore every episode of the podcast Rethinking Rewards: The Psychology of Incentives, Reinforcers, and Money
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| E04 - Epilogue: The Social Science of Money | 22 Sep 2025 | 00:09:46 | |
In many situations, money can easily function as a reward; after all, it can help to satisfy many different needs. But is there something special about money? In this episode, Erik covers some basic ideas from economics and anthropology. (00:00) Introduction (00:45) Economic definition of money (02:18) Anthropological perspectives on money (04:01) The symbolic meaning of money (07:25) Social rules around the use of money (08:42) Conclusion Further reading: Nelms, T. C., & Maurer, B. (2014). Materiality, symbol, and complexity in the anthropology of money. In E. Bijleveld and H. Aarts: The Psychological Science of Money, 37-70. Lea, S. E., & Webley, P. (2006). Money as tool, money as drug: The biological psychology of a strong incentive. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 29(2), 161-176. Cover art: Carrot generated with Craiyon.com Music: Home by Vlad Gluschenko https://soundcloud.com/vgl9 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/vlad-gluschenko/home Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/FEEQg-ROHJc | |||
| E03 - The Use and Abuse of Incentives | 22 Sep 2025 | 00:20:28 | |
In this episode, Erik dives into the question "do incentives work, such that they improve performance?". To try to answer this complex question, Erik discusses several important lines of research from psychology. (00:00) Introduction (01:09) Psychology of motivation (03:27) Experimental psychology (04:31) Neuroscience (06:18) Interim summary (06:49)Three drawbacks of incentives (07:40) Choking under pressure (10:49) Reduced intrinsic motivation (15:06) Perverse incentives (18:36) Conclusions Further reading: Bijleveld, E., Custers, R., & Aarts, H. (2012). Human reward pursuit: From rudimentary to higher-level functions. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21(3), 194-199. Bijleveld, E., Custers, R., Van der Stigchel, S., Aarts, H., Pas, P., & Vink, M. (2014). Distinct neural responses to conscious versus unconscious monetary reward cues. Human Brain Mapping, 35(11), 5578-5586. Liljeholm, M., & O'Doherty, J. P. (2012). Anything you can do, you can do better: neural substrates of incentive-based performance enhancement. PLoS biology, 10(2), e1001272. Beilock, S. L., Kulp, C. A., Holt, L. E., & Carr, T. H. (2004). More on the fragility of performance: choking under pressure in mathematical problem solving. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133(4), 584. Garbers, Y., & Konradt, U. (2014). The effect of financial incentives on performance: A quantitative review of individual and team‐based financial incentives. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87(1), 102-137. Kerr, S. (1975). On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B. Academy of Management Journal, 18(4), 769-783. Gerhart, B., & Fang, M. (2015). Pay, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, performance, and creativity in the workplace: Revisiting long-held beliefs. Annual Review Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavavior, 2(1), 489-521. Cover art: Carrot generated with Craiyon.com Music: Home by Vlad Gluschenko https://soundcloud.com/vgl9 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/vlad-gluschenko/home Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/FEEQg-ROHJc | |||
| E02 - The Incredible Power of Immediate Consequences | 22 Sep 2025 | 00:14:48 | |
In this episode, Erik discusses the legacy of radical behaviorism. He explains the basic features of radical behaviorism. He will also argue that the some key ideas from radical behaviorism are now more relevant than ever. (00:00) Introduction (00:50) The basic ingredients (03:24) In defense of single-subject designs (07:02) Why Skinner got cancelled (10:24) Why Skinner is still relevant (13:37) Conclusion Further reading: O'Donohue, W., & Ferguson, K. E. (2001). The psychology of B.F. Skinner. Sage. Fisher, A. J., Medaglia, J. D., & Jeronimus, B. F. (2018). Lack of group-to-individual generalizability is a threat to human subjects research. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(27), E6106-E6115. Cover art: Carrot generated with Craiyon.com Music: Home by Vlad Gluschenko https://soundcloud.com/vgl9 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/vlad-gluschenko/home Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/FEEQg-ROHJc | |||
| E01 - The Reward Debate | 22 Sep 2025 | 00:14:32 | |
In this first episode, Erik talks about why there is so much controversy about when and how to use rewards. (00:00) Introduction (01:54) Different types of rewards (03:56) Defining key concepts (05:27) Introducing the debate on rewards (06:35) The role of humanism (08:43) Anti-reward influencers (13:20) Wrap-up Cover art: Carrot generated with Craiyon.com
Music: Home by Vlad Gluschenko https://soundcloud.com/vgl9 Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/vlad-gluschenko/home Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/FEEQg-ROHJc | |||