Monetary and social reward in motor skill learning

Monetary and social reward both influence human motor learning, yet their relative impact remains unclear, especially in real-world motor skill tasks. While financial incentives like bonuses are commonly used, social rewards, such as praise, are more frequently applied in sports training and motor rehabilitation. This study compares the effects of monetary and social reward on motor skill acquisition, immediate and long-term retention, transfer, and intrinsic motivation in a real-world motor task. Three groups of participants (monetary reward, social reward, no reward) trained on a laser pistol shooting task using their right dominant hand. Participants’ shooting performance was tested before training, immediately after training, and one day later, with both hands tested in a random order without feedback. The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) was administered after the post-training test on Day 1. Both reward groups demonstrated improved performance compared to the control group during training. The monetary reward group showed superior immediate retention, while the social reward group exhibited offline gains. Additionally, the social reward group reported higher intrinsic motivation than the other groups and outperformed the control group in long-term transfer. Notably, intrinsic motivation levels correlated with long-term transfer. These results underscore a key distinction: while monetary rewards enhance immediate motor performance, social rewards are more effective at promoting long-term performance and intrinsic motivation. This suggests that while both reward types drive motor behavior, they do so through different psychological mechanisms—monetary reward by focusing on immediate results and social reward by fostering a more enduring, intrinsic drive. Our findings provide insights into the mechanisms behind reinforcement effect on motor learning, with significant implications in sports training and motor rehabilitation.

金钱奖励与社会奖励均会对人类运动学习产生影响，但二者的相对影响仍不明确，尤其是在真实场景下的运动技能任务中。尽管奖金等经济激励手段应用较为普遍，但表扬这类社会奖励在运动训练与运动康复领域的使用更为广泛。本研究针对一项真实场景运动任务，对比了金钱奖励与社会奖励对运动技能习得、即时与长期保持、技能迁移以及内在动机的影响。本研究设置三组受试者（金钱奖励组、社会奖励组、无奖励对照组），要求受试者以利手右手完成激光手枪射击训练任务。受试者的射击表现分别在训练前、训练后即刻以及训练后24小时进行测试，测试时双手均需参与，测试顺序随机且无反馈。本研究于第1天训练后测试结束时，向受试者发放内在动机量表（Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, IMI）进行评估。训练阶段中，两个奖励组的表现均优于无奖励对照组。金钱奖励组的即时保持表现更优，而社会奖励组则展现出离线巩固增益。此外，社会奖励组的内在动机评分显著高于其余两组，且在长期迁移任务中的表现优于对照组。值得注意的是，内在动机水平与长期迁移任务表现存在显著相关性。本研究结果揭示了两类奖励的核心差异：金钱奖励可提升即时运动表现，而社会奖励则更有助于促进长期运动表现与内在动机的培养。这表明尽管两类奖励均可驱动运动行为，但其作用的心理学机制存在差异：金钱奖励通过关注即时结果发挥作用，而社会奖励则通过培育更持久的内在驱动力实现效果。本研究结果为运动学习强化效应的内在机制提供了新见解，对运动训练与运动康复领域具有重要的实践指导意义。