Article Summary and Analysis 3

Article Title: The effects of incentives on reading

Author: Jeff McQuillan

Journal: Reading Research and Instruction Vol. 36, Winter 1997, pgs. 111-125

Summary

            This article did not provide any new research, but merely looked into other studies in which incentives were used to determine if they had any effect on reading performance and/or motivation of students.  In the literature review, McQuillan references numerous studies comparing the effectiveness of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations on any task, not just reading.  He finds that the research states that incentives not only do not help the performance, but that they can ultimately have negative effects on certain tasks.

            McQuillan then looks at ten studies on the usage of incentives in reading and found that half of them found positive effects, while the other half found no effect or negative effects.  McQuillan analyzes the studies which showed positive effects and points out areas in which the results seem faulty or questionable.  He often uses the word “confounding” to describe the conditions of the studies.  McQuillan then analyzes the studies which showed either negative or no effects of incentives.  He concludes by stating that external incentives or rewards do not have a positive effect on reading and future studies looking into the matter need “more rigorous experimental design” (1997, p. 119).

Analysis

            This article echoes other research I have read about how extrinsic motivation is not a positive determinant in motivating students to read; however, I am curious about the potential bias in McQuillan’s research.  He seemed to go into his research with the belief that external incentives do not make good motivators, and dismissed five studies that found otherwise.  The use of the word “confounding” in an academic journal is a bit over the top to describe the research of others, and leads me to question his research.  One difference between the studies McQuillan investigated and my research study is that I am not interested in increasing student’s test scores or reading scores.  I am merely looking at motivation.  Another difference is that the external rewards will only be one part of my study.  Sustained silent reading will be another aspect of the study.

References

McQuillan, J. (1997). The effects of incentives on reading. Reading Research and Instruction, 36.2, 111-125. Retrieved from www.ebscohost.com.