When we are working for a reward, we do exactly what is necessary to get it and no more.
Not only are we less apt to notice peripheral features of the task, but in performing it we are also less likely to take chances, play with possibilities, follow hunches that might not pay off. Risks are to be avoided whenever possible because the objective is not to engage in an open-ended encounter with ideas; it is simply to get the goody. … when motivated by rewards, “features such as predictability and simplicity are desirable, get through quickly and reach the goal.” More succinctly, “rewards are the enemies of exploration.”
Alfie Kohn
