The little girl across the street loves to play basketball in her driveway, and you see her out shooting hoops almost every day (she's really good at it, too!).But for the past couple of weeks, you notice that she hasn't been out at all.Talking to a neighbor one day, you learn that the little girl's father wanted her to play basketball someday at the collegiate level, and so he began paying her $5.00 an hour for her basketball playing.The father thought that this would give the little girl some incentive to practice and get really good at the game, but instead the little girl lost interest in basketball entirely.It is obvious that

Question

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The little girl was initially intrinsically motivated to play basketball (as she was often seen playing on her own), but the introduction of an extrinsic reward (money) undermined this spontaneous interest and ultimately caused her to lose interest in the game. This is an example of the overjustification effect, where the introduction of an external incentive reduces a person's intrinsic motivation for a behavior.

The Little Girl Across the Street Loves to Play Basketball