Effects of success, failure, and reward outcome upon contingent and noncontingent self-reinforcement

Gave 80 7-8 yr. olds a pursuit-rotor task. Experimental Ss experienced success or failure and simultaneously earned prizes of high (better than other Ss earned) or low magnitude. Controls played the game and won the prize with no success-failure or reward-magnitude manipulation. Subsequently all Ss rewarded themselves contingently or noncontingently during performance on a task which was similar to or different from the initial one. Results confirm the prediction that Ss would show generally increased self-reward following success experiences ("self-congratulations") and that self-reward following failure ("self-therapy") would increase only when it was noncontingently administered and/or during a task dissimilar to the one on which failure was experienced.