Schizophrenia: Token Economies in the management of Schizophrenia (KR) Flashcards
How is token economy used in SZ?
as a management technique
What management techniques are used for SZ?
Token Economy
Where is token economy used?
institutions such as psychiatric hospitals
Which approach does token economy use?
Behaviourist approach
Which principles of the behaviourist approach are used to create token economy?
Operant conditioning
Why would token economy need to be used with those who have been institutionalised?
they have developed maladaptive behaviour
Give an example of maladaptive behaviour a SZ patient may have developed from being institutionalised?
Bad hygiene or lack of communication
bad hygiene or lack of communication are examples of what?
maladaptive behaviour
What is the aim of token economy?
to change patients behaviour so they are easier to manage
Aside from managing behaviour, what is another aim of token economy?
to provide a better quality of life and enable them to live outside the hospital
What could operant conditioning use to manage Sz?
Postive reinforcement
Outline positive reinforcement?
Doing a behaviour to recieve a positive outcome i.e. reward
How do we use positive reinforcement to manage SZ?
give a patient a reward for completing desirable behaviour
give examples of desirable behaviour in a hospital?
good hygiene, good communication, taking medication
What issues might hospital face when handing out direct reinforment?
They may not catch the behaviour in time so the patient doesn’t associate the behaviour with the reward
How could psychologists avoid the issues with using direct reinforcement?
Use tokens as secondary reinforcement that the patient can trade in for a reward
Briefly bullet point the steps of token economy
- complete the behaviour
- recieve a token
- exchange the token for reward
What do tokens act as?
secondary reinforcers
when do tokens have to be given?
immediately after the behaviour has been completed
Can tokens just be used by them selves? and if not why?
No, the tokens are not rewarding by themselves
Who conducted research to support for token economy?
Dickerson et al (2005)
What did dickerson et al use to research token economy?
a meta analysis of 13 studies
What was Dickerson et al find in his meta analysis of token economy studies?
that token economy was useful in increasing adaptive behaviour
Therefore what does Dickerson et al’s research do to the use of token economy?
increases the credibility of token economy
