Question

Jordan is awful at doing dishes at home, where he doesn't get paid for doing them, and he claims that he doesn't know how to wash dishes. When he gets a job as a dishwasher, he doesn't need any training, and seems to already know how to do the behaviour. This is an example of:

A) Operant conditioning
B) Classical conditioning
C) Intrinsic motivation
D) Extrinsic motivation

Answer 1

Jordan's ability to wash dishes well when he is paid demonstrates extrinsic motivation, where he is motivated by the external reward of getting paid, rather than intrinsic enjoyment of the task.

Step-by-step explanation:

The situation with Jordan, who is not good at doing dishes at home but suddenly demonstrates skill when working as a dishwasher, is an example of extrinsic motivation. At home, there is no direct reward for Jordan when he washes dishes, but when he becomes a dishwasher, he receives payment for his work. This financial incentive is an extrinsic reward that motivates Jordan to engage in the task with skill and effort. When Jordan did not have this incentive at home, there was no extrinsic motivation for him to perform the task well. The phenomenon described in the question is closely related to research on the overjustification effect, which suggests that introducing extrinsic rewards, like getting paid, for a behavior can decrease one's intrinsic motivation to engage in that behavior for its own sake. This can lead to relying on the presence of extrinsic rewards to continue performing the behavior effectively.