On the Rewards of Learning

What began as a time-filling activity ended up coinciding well with this NY Times article. Katie and I decided early on that both to occupy the down time between camp activities and to help the kids remember topics that they just learned, we would give star stickers to those who answer questions correctly. At the end of the week, they could either exchange stars for gifts or we would give prizes to those with the most stars. It's simple, really, but we never thought much about the ramifications of such a reward system. Now that it's finally over, I guess I could reflect a little.
Different children reacted differently to receiving stars; some were overly zealous, and some didn't care or were resigned, but most of them appeared to really just want the stickers and relegated the knowledge part as a means but not the end (feel free to extend this observation to the adultsphere). The most obvious sign was the continuous raising of hands without the slightest idea of what's the answer or even what was being asked. Several kids especially liked to try to BS their way to a sticker by beginning a monologue on whatever they know regarding the topic; the content was usually incoherent and unrelated, and we quickly learned to move on to the next raised hand. If the kids were to experience the rewards of learning, they ought to also learn about the futility of bullshitting. That said, I left the fine prints of this dichotomy for them to discover later on in life.
I have yet to form a solid opinion on tangibly and artificially rewarding kids for learning and performing well. The hope should be that the child will develop an intrinsic interest in learning along the way and eventually reap the true rewards of self-edification. The libertarian in me screams loudly. To each child, his own.