Intrinsic motivation as a mediating variable in the maintenance and transfer of academic performance in children with autism

Background: Research with typically developing individuals has shown that the social context surrounding the administration of rewards has an effect on individuals’ intrinsic motivation (IM) (Cameron, Banko, & Pierce, 2001; Deci, Koestner, & Ryan, 1999). Specifically, when individuals are reinforced for achievement in autonomy-supportive contexts (settings that provide opportunities for choice), their IM for academic tasks increases. Choice has also been found to be an important motivator for children with autism in academic programs using explicit contingencies of reinforcement (Koegel et al., 2006; Moes, 1998). However, researchers have yet to examine the effects of choice and reinforcement on the IM of children with autism (once the reward procedures are withdrawn) and the possible generalization of IM to novel academic settings.

Objectives: This research examined the effects of performance-based reinforcers presented in differing social contexts (adult-directed vs. child choice) on the academic IM of children with autism. As such, it was expected that IM for academic tasks would increase, resulting in enhanced maintenance of performance as well as skill generalization to novel settings.

Methods: Three children participated in a within-subject repeated measures design, consisting of multiple baseline and experimental phases. In baseline sessions, children were free to engage in either an academic task or a distracter. During the experimental intervention, children received reinforcers for completing math or language arts tasks in either autonomy-supportive (choice) or adult-directed (no-choice) contexts. Measures of IM include time on task, accuracy, affect, task liking, and incidence of problem behavior.

Results: IM increased, maintained over time, and generalized to novel settings for two of the three children.

Conclusions: This research suggests that when children with autism are offered performance-based reinforcers in contexts that support their autonomy (provide choice) IM for academics are enhanced, and the experimental effect both maintains and generalizes to novel situations.