Classroom Reward Structure: An Analytical and Practical Review

At various times in the history of social psychology, interest has arisen in the reward structure of the classroom, particularly in the idea of using reward structures that place students in mutual dependence for rewards-cooperative reward structures. Some high points in the study of classroom reward structure were publications by Deutsch (1949a, 1948b), who presented a comprehensive theory of cooperation and competition, Miller and Hamblin (1963), and Johnson, D. W. and Johnson, R. T. (1974). Of these, only Johnson and Johnson reviewed the large body of research that has been done on cooperative, competitive, and individual reward structures, but their review was lacking in analysis of these findings. The present paper attempts to fill this gap by drawing theoretical and practical conclusions from the research on reward structures.