Why People Use Stickers
Reward charts are a mainstay of modern parenting, popularised by experts, such as Supernanny Jo Frost. Stickers are commonly used in order to tame toddlers, stop tantrums and encourage kids to eat up their food and tidy their rooms. After all, children love stickers and surely if experts advocate the usage of reward charts they must work?Think again.Scientific research indicates that this seemingly innocuous method of behavioural control may not provoke the desired response in our children.
More concerning is that reward charts can actually undermine their future behaviour. With Psychologists, such as Warneken and Tomasello (2008), highlighting that a child’s motivation to repeat a task is actually lowered if they have received a reward for the task initially. This knowledge is leading many (including myself) to question their widespread use.The use of reward and sticker charts stems from techniques of behaviour modification that have been popular for over half a century, well before Supernanny and Gina Ford came along. The same knowledge gave us the basis for modern day dog training.
Why People Use Stickers Without
Yet while rewards may help to train our dogs, do these methods really work to train our children?What do we teach our child when we aim to modify their behaviour by rewarding them with stickers? Is there a chance we might teach the child that helping people is only worth doing if they are given a reward for doing so?Reward charts usually produce quick, albeit temporary results, which is why they are so popular with the parenting experts you see on TV. They can enter a house full of tantrums and tears and seemingly turn around the behaviour of the children in less than 48 hours, just by drawing up a reward chart.What you don’t see though is what happens once they leave. The popular parenting experts aren’t concerned with the long term, they need ‘quick fix’ options that look good on our screens, if in a year’s time the techniques no longer work, or worse still cause a set-back in the child’s behaviour, that’s not their problem.What happens when you use sticker charts?Rewards work on increasing extrinsic (external) motivation. In the short term, rewarding the behaviour you want works quickly, but the effects however are very superficial.
For a real change to take place we need to work with a child’s intrinsic (internal) motivation.Reward charts work only on a superficial extrinsic level which, whilst they produce quick results for little caregiver effort, can actually undermine intrinsic motivation. Or as parenting author Alfie Kohn says: “The more we want our children to want to do something, the more counterproductive it will be to reward them for doing it”.Rewarding desirable behaviour can ultimately make the child less likely to do the specific task unless they are given a reward. As shown by research published in the Journal of Developmental Psychology, rewards do not really change motivation at all; the child is just complying for the sticker.The child is not learning “right from wrong” or becoming a better person, instead they comply with their behaviour whilst the reward is on offer, but remove the reward and you lose compliance.
Why People Use Stickers Printable
The compliance that comes from reward charts however does not indicate an internally motivated change has taken place, nor is it long lasting. It is for this reason that so many parents who use reward charts have to keep using them, or resorting to more and more extreme methods of bribery to elicit the behaviour they want in their children.It may only be a sticker today, but how do you get a 12 year old to ‘behave’ when they are no longer interested in stickers? How about a 16 year old? The trouble is if you have used stickers (and other rewards) when the child is young you are setting yourself up for great issues when they are older. That might seem like a long way off if you only have a three year old now, but I promise you it will go quickly!Would you like to raise your child to be intrinsically motivated and find an alternative to old school rewards and punishments? Check out my Gentle Discipline Book (, and ). Sarahp.s: Come and chat with me on, and!ReferencesFabes RA, Fulse J, Eisenberg N, et al (1989).
Effects of rewards on children’s prosocial motivation: A socialization study. Developmental Psychology 25: 509-515.Warneke, F, Tomasello, M (2008) extrinsic rewards undermine altruistic tendencies in 20-month-olds. Developmental Psychology. Nov;44(6):1785-8Kohn, A ‘Punished by rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise and Other Bribes’, Houghton Mifflin, 2000p.s: Did you like this post?
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Alright folks, we've heard it time and time again. 'Stickers are cool.but I'm not sure how I could use them in my business'. We are not talking about your scratch-n-sniff, or lick and stick unicorns and stars kind of stickers.
We mean business-! So here's how to use them for your company.1) Sticker swag. As you said yourself, 'stickers are cool' and everyone loves them. Get some good quality made of your logo and start giving them out.
If people like your brand, they'll stick your sticker and suddenly you customers aren't just customers, they are brand advocates and evangelists for your products.2) Laptop and cell phone decals. You can buy these everywhere online, but if you want to turn all your tech gear into a mini billboard for your brand, simply get some custom stickers made. Just like that, all your employees are spreading your logo without even trying.3). These are quite possibly the most effective form of cheap advertising out there. How many times have you sped up to read the bumper sticker of the car in front of you?
How many times have you rushed through a magazine just to read an ad? Case and point.4). It can be expensive to get envelopes printed with your branding and contact info. But making custom stickers as address labels is easy, fast and affordable. You will also have the flexibility to stick them on whatever packages or envelopes you want and you don't have to order in bulk.5). If you have a storefront it may be helpful to list the store hours in the window, or advertise free WiFi or sales. Perfect way to boost curb appeal.
You can also use custom window decals as signage for office doors or promote your business through car window decals.6) Customized client gifts. Client appreciation is important. But now you can take it to the next step by creating custom wine labels, custom travel mugs, custom labelled jars and more.
Wow them with your level of ingenuity without breaking the bank.7). Company gala, staff party, golf tournament fundraiser? These are perfect for getting your branding right in the hands of people, literally. Maybe they aren't your target audience, but you can bet they know someone who is, and you'll want your company name front of mind.8) Organization. Yes, stickers and labels are great for organizing shelves, boxes, drawers, supplies, tools, departments, and more.
An organized workplace is a safe and welcoming workplace. Cut down on the chaos and get back to your core competencies.9). Make your walls talk.
Those blank spaces are perfect for adding some workplace words of wisdom, directions, or more signage. Best part is most custom wall decals will come off without any damage to your walls.10). The floor is a vastly under-utilized space.
A floor is absolutely necessary and gets used all the time, but its not as common to see decals, ads or signs there. So the ones that are there stand out even more. Use it to advertise store sales in your parking lot or on the sidewalk, or to point customers or clients in the right direction.No matter how big or small your business, or how big or small your budget, there is a way stickers can be used. For more ideas for your business stickers, check out some of our other ideas on StickerYou.com.