This was explained very well decades back in "Punished By Rewards" - one of the most useful book I've read.
The two are related, though. The article here is explaining how meaningful, relationship-building positive-reinforcement is an effective strategy.
Alfie Kohn's work is easy to misinterpret -- the title of his book mentions "gold stars" as a bad idea, but misses the meaning of a gold star. A gold star isn't a bribe in the sense of an "incentive program", it's a tangible expression of appreciation* -- which is what the article here argeus in favor of.
*as long as the star is its own reward, not some sort of currency used to buy rewards.