Managing Treatments For SZ Flashcards
Give intro to Token Economies
- behaviourist apprch to manage the behaviour of patients with sz
- It is mainly used with patients who have spent a long time in hospital and therefore who have developed maladaptive behaviour (institutionalised) such as bad hygiene 🪥 or lack of communication with others 🗣️❌
Give aim for Token Economies
to change a patient’s behaviour so that they are easier to manage, will have a better quality of life and thus enabling them to live outside of a hospital setting 🏥🌳
How does Token Economies work?
The technique uses Skinner’s operant conditioning principles, whereby patients receive reinforcements (rewards) in the form of tokens ticket 🎟️ such as coloured discs, immediately after producing a desired behaviour such as self-care or social interaction.
The tokens can then be later exchanged for goods or privileges such as hours watching tv, magazines, a walk outside or sweets 🍬 📺
Describe how Tokens are 2° Reinforcers
- not rewarding by themsleves (they don’t see the token as the reward)
- However, the patients learn to associate them with meaningful rewards such as going for a walk, 🍬or watching a 🍿 (primary reinforcers).
How are tokens secondary reinforcers?
they need to be paired with the primary reinforcers, so at the start of a token economy programme the tokens and primary reinforcers (eg 🍬) are administered together
Give RTS Token Economy a’s management of SZ
P - Dickerson
E - meta analysis reviewing 13 studies of token economies technique was useful in increasing adaptive bh of patients
E - sig increases when CBT combined w 💊 therapies as severity of symptoms was reduced
L - suggests that token economies is effective management technique ⬆️ credibility of use of token economies
Whats the CA to Dickersons Research
P - one issue risk of publication bias
E - Researcheds have control over studies they wish to report
E - meta analysis wud review published research and R w significant results more likely to be published than non sig results
L - limits support the meta analysis R by dickerson provides for effectiveness of token economies in management of sz
as an accurate view of its effectiveness is skewed by bias
Give a weakness of Token Economies
P - Raise Ethical Issues
E - privileges become more available to patients with mild symptoms and less available to those with more severe symptoms of sz that prevent them from complying with desirable behaviours
Token economies suggests that symptoms of sz can easily be bypassed if they seek the reward.
However, this leads to the most severely ill patients suffer discrimination, as the severity of their symptoms prevents them from accessing this programme.
L - Therefore, this has reduced the use of token economies in the psychiatric system to manage schizophrenia as they may not be appropriate for all patients.
