S.Waynforth

The Guardian had a review of Steven Levitt and his book Freakonomics
(http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1510858,00.html)
this morning. I've not read the book, but the first few paragraphs of
the review seemed like a nice example of how rewards can have a very
unintended result:

Steven Levitt's three-year-old daughter, Amanda, had not long finished
potty training when she decided she actually preferred nappies.
Levitt's wife, Jeannette, used all the methods she knew to convince
the toddler otherwise but to no avail. Levitt, the author of hit book
Freakonomics, intervened. He promised Amanda some M&M's whenever she
used the potty.

For the first few days it worked well with sweets changing hands in
return for timely toilet visits. On the third or fourth day Levitt,
38, took Amanda to the toilet. She passed just a dribble and took the
sweets. A few minutes later she was back on the toilet, passing yet
another dribble and putting her hand out for yet more sweets. She'd
rumbled the system. Levitt smiles.

"I never thought my three-year-old daughter could outwit my incentives
in just three or four days," he says. "But it's a great example of how
incentives can have unpredictable effects."


Schuyler