Here’s the interesting thing: you have two randomly assigned groups. For individuals in one group, the incentivized group, you tell them the faster they can solve this problem, the more money they’ll get paid. For individuals in the other group, the control group, you tell them they will get paid the same amount of money regardless of how long they take. Here’s the really interesting find: the incentivized group did worse! That’s right, boys and girls, external incentives not only did not work but were counterproductive.
