Decision Support Systems

Cognitive evaluation theory also provides insight into the effect of rewards on individuals' behavior. In essence, rewards can be viewed as one type of feedback mechanism and classified as task noncontingent, task-contingent or performance-contingent rewards.

Task noncontingent rewards occur when individuals receive rewards for doing a task, without requirement of engagement in the task. For example, providing a gift for participation without regard for how the participants perform during the experiment is a task noncontingent reward. Task noncontingent rewards are unlikely to affect task motivation because individuals are not required to perform well in the task, complete the task, or even engage in the task. Three meta-analyses performed by Deci et al., Tang and Hall, and Cameron and Pierce do not suggest any significant impact of task noncontingent rewards on task motivation.

Task-contingent rewards require individuals to actually perform a task and can be classified as completion-contingent or engagement-contingent rewards. Completion-contingent rewards are provided only upon explicit completion of the target activity. For example, individuals work on four variations of a three-dimensional puzzle and receive $1 for each puzzle completed in the required time. Engagement-contingent rewards are offered simply for engagement in the task, without consideration of completion of the task. For instance, participants receive a reward for engaging in a series of hidden-figures puzzles. These individuals are not aware of their performance in the task or the extent of their completion of the activity because they do not know the number of hidden figures in each drawing. Both completion-contingent and engagement-contingent rewards have about the same level of undermining effect (i.e. negative effect) on free-choice behavior and self-reported interest.

Performance-contingent rewards are administered for superior performance in an activity. Such rewards are either a direct function of actual performance success (e.g. an 80% accuracy rate on a task that leads to 80% of the maximum possible reward) or achievement of a specific standard (e.g., perform better than 80% of the other participants or achieve at least an 80% accuracy rate on a task). Performance-contingent rewards can have a facilitating or debilitating effect on task motivation, depending on the saliency of the informational or controlling aspect of the reward. In particular, informational (controlling) administration of performance-contingent rewards leads to increased (decreased) task motivation. Task motivation is maintained or increased if the performance-contingent reward is perceived to provide competence information; in contrast, task motivation is impaired if the reward is used to control how well a person does in a task. The context in which performance-contingent rewards are administered can convey either competency or pressure to do well in an activity.

Individuals using a DSS based on different reward structures are expected to exhibit different performance effects. Relative to the no reward condition, task-contingent rewards may be perceived as overjustification which undermines task motivation. This undermining effect occurs when individuals are rewarded for doing an interesting task. The response to the reward is generally for individuals to exhibit less interest in, and willingness to, work on a task. Performance-contingent rewards have also been shown to debilitate task motivation and decision performance. Additionally, performance-contingent rewards can be more controlling, demanding, and constraining than task-contingent rewards because a specific standard of performance is expected. This leads to greater pressure and subsequent larger decrements in task motivation than in conditions where task-contingent rewards are administered. In contrast, performance-contingent rewards may lead to better performance when individuals are motivated to work harder and put in more effort than they otherwise would; therefore, performance-contingent rewards may be effective for improving decision performance.