Token Economy AO3

Question 1

Describe Ayllon and Azrin’s study.

Answer 1

• token economy was used in the women’s ward of the mental health institute
• they were rewarded for self care with privilges such as watching tv
• through this they found a significant increase in desireable characteristics

Question 2

What are the strengths of Token Economy

Answer 2

• Ayllon and Azrin’s study supports it
• Dickerson et al’s study supports it

Question 3

What is a counter point to Ayllon and Azrin’s study?

Answer 3

the desireable behaviour significantly decreased after the system was withdrawn which shows that Token Economy is only a temporary soluntion

Question 4

Describe Dickerson et al’s study.

Answer 4

• Dickerson et al reviewed 13 studies and 11 out of those reported beneficial effects directly related to the use of token economy
• this shows it’s effective

Question 5

What are the weaknesses of token economy?

Answer 5

• there is evidence that goes against the use of Token Economy
• there may be ethical issues as it could make the privileges less availlable for those with severe symptoms that prevent them from complying with desireable behaviour, which could be considered discriminatory

Question 6

What evidence is there to go against the use of token economy?

Answer 6

• Comer suggested that there is a lack of control in the experiment
• all the patients that are introduced to the program therefore there is no experimental and control group to compare
• this means you can only compare their current and past behaviour
• this means that it can easily be effected by extranuous variables