Token Economies Flashcards
what is behaviourolgy
natural science that studies the behaviour of organisms
what is a token?
tangible symbol exchanged for known reinforcers called BACKUP REINFORCERS
- conditioned reinforcer that strengthens desirable behavior
- on a reinforcement schedule
what are backup reinforcers?
known reinforcers that you can receive by exchanging a token
what is a token economy?
- directed at changing behaviour of GROUPS of people
- directed at changing MULTIPLE target behaviours
- apply complex systems to manage consequences of behaviours
- strengthen’s clients desirable behaviors that occur too infrequently and to decrease their undesirable in a structured treatment or education sys
what are 5 things you should consider when STARTING a token economy?
1) decide on target behaviour
2) functional assessment
3) recruit staff members to administer program
4) train staff
5) collect baseline data
True or false: for young children or people with intellectual disabilities, backup reinforcers should be made available 4 times a day, intially
FALSE - 2 times a day
what are 3 ways that a token economy can be phased out?
1) decrease number of tokens earned by behaviour
2) decrease number of behaviours that are eligible for tokens
3) increase number of tokens needed to exchange for backup reinforcers
what kind of token economy was used at the norfolk island penal colony? what was the token? what was the backup reinforcer?
token = “marks/points”
backup reinforcer = release from jail
what are the benefits of a token economy?
- effective behavioural change
- great response maintenance (better than other procedures)
- help people develop real-world skills
what are the problems with a token economy?
- gains may be lost after the person leaves the token economy
- high costs
- criticized as “demeaning”
what is the main criteria for choosing target behaviors?
socially significant or meaningful for the people involved
- identify and define
what is the effectiveness of the token economy dependent on?
backup reinforcers
- limiting access increases their reinforcing value
when is response cost and token economy combined?
if there are undesirable behaviors that compete with desirable behaviors
-> response cost is included after token economy has been introduced for a period of time
-> loss of tokens in response cost is effective as a punisher only after tokens have been established as conditioned reinforcers
-> need to get tokens back for response to be effective
what is the disadvantage to using token economy?
time and effort and cost and training and complexity
what are the 3 basic q to ask before implementing token economy?
- can staff or other change agents be trained to carry out the program consistently on a daily basis?
- are there sufficient financial resources to conduct the program?
-do the expected benefits (improvement in behavior) justify the time, effort, and cost of conducting the program?
