token economies A03

Question 1

who provided research support for the effectiveness of token economies?

Answer 1

Dickerson

Question 2

what did he review and find?

Answer 2

he reviewed 13 studies of the use of token economy systems in the treatment of schizophrenia and 11 out of 13 had beneficial effects on schizophrenia due to token economies.

Question 3

what is a limitation of Dickerson’s findings?

Answer 3

these studies had significant methodological shortcomings which limited their impact in the overall assessment of token economies.

Question 4

state a weakness of the token economy

Answer 4

ethical concerns

Question 5

explain what is meant by ethical concerns in terms of token economies

Answer 5

food can be a reward of the tokens, but food is a human right and everyone should have access to it and not be seen as a ‘right’ despite the positive consequences that might be achieved by manipulating them.

Question 6

state another limitation of token economies

Answer 6

there are difficulties in assessing the success of token economy

Question 7

what does Comer suggest?

Answer 7

there is a major problem in assessing the effectiveness of token economies because the use of them is uncontrolled.

Question 8

what does Comer mean by token economy use is uncontrolled?

Answer 8

there is no experimental and control group, so patients improvements cannot be compared to the other group, only to their past behaviours.

Question 9

what is a problem with comparing patients behaviours before, after use of token economies?

Answer 9

it can be misleading- other factors may be involved such as increase in staff attention.