Punished by Rewards The Trouble with Gold Stars,
Incentive Plans, As, Praise, and Other Bribes
BY ALFIE KOHN
Former teacher Kohn throws down the gauntlet at society’s blind acceptance of
B. F. Skinner’s Do this and you’ll get that theory of behaviorism. This book ranges across schoolwork, and private life in its indictment of extrinsic motivators and paints a compelling picture of a world without them.
Type I Insight: Do rewards motivate people Absolutely. They motivate people to get rewards.”
Kohn has written eleven books on parenting, education, and behavior—as well as scores of articles on that topic—all of which are interesting and provocative. There’s more information on his website www.alfiekohn.org
Once a Runner
BY JOHN L. PARKER, JR.
Parker’s novel, originally published in 1978 and kept alive by a devoted coterie of fans, offers a fascinating look into the psychology of distance running.
Through the tale of college miler Quenton Cassidy, we seethe toll that mastery can take—and the thrill it can produce when it’s realized.
Type I Insight: He ran not for crypto-religious reasons but to win races, to cover ground fast. Not only to be better than his fellows, but better than himself.
To be faster by a tenth of a second, by an inch, by two feet or two yards, than he had been the week or year before. He sought to conquer the physical limitations placed on him by a three-dimensional world (and if Time is the fourth dimension, that too was his province. If he could conquer the weakness, the cowardice in himself, he would not worry about the rest it would come.”
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