ABA Chapter 22: The Token Economy – Flashcards

- a reinforcement system in which conditioned reinforcers called tokens are delivered to people for desirable behaviors - tokens are later exchanged for backup reinforcers

- to strengthen clients' desirable behaviors that occur too infrequently and to decrease their undesirable behaviors in a structured treatment environment or educational setting - to maintain previously changed behavior(s) - to teach the use of token exchange available in the "real world" - to teach parents/teachers to recognize and reward desirable behaviors systematically - sometimes just for fun!

- groups or single individual - typically used to change EXISTING behavior (a behavior that happens, but not enough) - can be modified to develop new behaviors through shaping/prompting/BST

- when behavior is impossible - should not be used to reward behaviors that are already under control of intrinsic motivation (ex: Girl likes to read --> don't need tokens to get her to read)

*1. primary reinforcer* - "unconditioned", unlearned --> ex) food *2. secondary reinforcer* - "conditioned", tokens --> learn the value of the token over time

- something delivered to a person immediately after a desirable behavior, accumulated by the person, and later exchanged for backup reinforcers

- be tangible that the change agent can deliver immediately after each instance of target behavior - practical and convenient - must be in a form clients can accumulate and carry with them - should not be available from any source other than the change agent

- reinforcers used in a token economy - effectiveness of a token economy depends on the backup reinforcers - a client receives tokens for desirable behaviors and exchanges a specific # of tokens for any variety of backup reinforcers - motivate clients to engage in the desirable behaviors and avoid undesirable behaviors

- Because the token is paired with the reinforcers, it becomes a conditioned reinforcer that strengthens the desirable behavior it follows

1. Defining the desirable target behaviors to be strengthened 2. Identifying the tokens to be used as conditioned reinforcers 3. Identifying the backup reinforcers to be exchanged for the tokens 4. Deciding on a reinforcement schedule for token delivery 5. Establishing the rate at which tokens are exchanged for the backup reinforcers 6. Establishing a time and place for exchanging tokens for backup reinforcers 7. Deciding whether to use a response cost (negative punishment) 8. Plan for generalization

- generally, more important or more difficult behaviors receive more tokens than less important or less difficult behaviors - later, after the target behaviors are occurring with more regularity, an intermittent reinforcement schedule, such as a FR or VR schedule may be incorporated to maintain behavior - important to ensure that the student earns enough tokens in the early phases of the token economy so that he or she can exchange them for backup reinforcements regularly --> tokens acquire their value = CONTINUOUS --> INTERMITTENT

- a negative punishment procedure in which, contingent on a behavior, a specified amount of a reinforcer is removed - not always used w/ token economy - used when there are undesirable behaviors that compete with the desirable behaviors - must define undesirable target behaviors to decrease and the # of tokens that will be lost for an instance of each identified problem behavior

- directly addresses problem behavior - easy to implement

- can create other problem behaviors - individual may lose so many tokens it is not possible for them to earn enough to be reinforcing --> lose incentive

- should be introduced after the token economy has been in place for a period of time - used only if the change agent can get the tokens back

- use to manage continued problem behavior - use when token economy is already established - consider possible "side effects"

- deliver tokens immediately - praise client while delivering the token - for young children and individuals with severe disabilities, backup reinforcers should be given to client at the same time the token is given, so token is more likely to become a conditioned reinforcer - should always be faded out before the client leaves the treatment program

- tokens can be used to reinforce the target behavior immediately after it occurs - a token economy is highly structured - tokens are generalized conditioned reinforcers because they are paired w/ a variety of other reinforcers - tokens function as reinforcers regardless of any specific establishing operation that may exist - easy to dispense and easy to accumulate - can be quantified easily - recipient can learn the skills involved in planning for the future

- the time and effort involved in organizing and conducting the program - the cost of purchasing the backup reinforcers - staff training and management

1. Can staff or other change agents be trained to carry out the program consistently on a daily basis? 2. Are there sufficient financial resources to conduct the program? 3. Do the expected benefits justify the time, effort, and cost of conducting the program?

- removal of possibility of earning tokens

- directly addresses problem behaviors - easy to implement if carefully planned

- if time out occurs frequently, or for long periods of time, individual may have few opportunities to earn tokens - may divert attention from other individuals