Handing out colored bracelets and upbeat stickers when students behave well seems like an effective strategy for encouraging civility. Little prizes and public praise would seem to encourage honesty, ...

Perhaps the most famous game-theory contest is the prisoner’s dilemma. In the prisoner’s dilemma, a pair of thieves have been ...

Every parent has offered incentives: “If you’re patient while I get the tires rotated, we’ll get ice cream afterwards.” Or, “if you play nicely with your cousin, you can use the iPad before dinner.” ...

In my last blog post, I wrote about using a continuous reinforcement schedule when you want to establish a new behavior. And I hinted that you should change that schedule after the behavior is ...

A study has found that adolescents become highly motivated to seek rewards after just a few hours of social isolation. This may be beneficial in driving them toward social interaction, but when ...

Want to listen to this article out loud? Hear it on Slate Voice. A few months ago, my husband and I met a psychologist who advised us to start using rewards with our 6-year-old. Our son is happy, but ...

Your small business must achieve the goals you set so it can succeed. However, you must achieve those goals by motivating others in your organization. The threat of punishment has long been ...