Self-Solicited Feedback: Effects of Hourly Pay and Individual Monetary Incentive Pay

Abstract

The frequency of feedback solicitation under hourly pay and individual monetary incentive pay conditions was examined. A between-subjects design was used with 30 college students in the two groups. Participants attended three experimental sessions and entered the cash value of simulated bank checks presented on a computer screen. Performance was higher for individuals who were paid incentives; however, participants who were paid incentives did not self-solicit feedback more than those who were paid hourly. Rather, participants in both groups solicited feedback quite frequently. Additionally, performance was not related to feedback solicitation. These results suggest that the incentives did not make feedback more reinforcing even though the incentives were functional rewards and the feedback was correlated with the amount of pay earned: the better the feedback, the more pay participants earned. The results also support the position that it may be necessary to pair objective feedback with an evaluative component to enhance performance.

Motivating Operations in theJournal of Organizational Behavior Management:Review and Discussion of Relevant Articles

“…Other Slowiak et al (2011) "For example, the self-generated goals may have functioned as motivating operations (Michael, 2007), making the feedback reinforcing (or more reinforcing) because participants could compare their performance to their self-generated goal" (p. 16).…”

An Analysis of Feedback from a Behavior Analytic Perspective

“…Empirical studies do not exist; however, the following theoretical analyses provide plausible explanations of some research findings. For example, Slowiak et al (2011) proposed that under feedback procedures, individuals may acquire a self-generated performance goal. Comparison of this goal against performance feedback may influence the effectiveness of the feedback stimulus as a function of the level of match between the stimulus and the self-generated goal.…”

Identifying the relation between feedback preferences and performance

“…Occasionally, some participants verbally requested to switch to a different feedback option during a session (which was not possible in the current arrangement). Slowiak et al (2011) arranged for participants to selfsolicit feedback under different payment conditions. Their primary dependent measures included the frequency (i.e., pressing "Alt+F" or the "feedback" button) and timing of selfsolicited feedback (i.e., exact clock time).…”