A token economy is a system of contingency management based on the systematic reinforcement of target behavior, in which the reinforcers are symbols or tokens that can be exchanged for other reinforcers. It is based on the principles of operant conditioning and behavioral economics and can be situated within applied behavior analysis; in applied settings token economies are used with children and adults, and have also been successfully modeled with pigeons in laboratory settings.
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Token Economy
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What is a token in a token economy, and what can it be exchanged for?
A token is an object or symbol, such as a coin, checkmark or point, that can be exchanged for back-up reinforcers like material items, services or privileges.
A token is an object or symbol that can be exchanged for material reinforcers, services or privileges, which the source calls back-up reinforcers. In applied settings the tokens have been things such as coins, checkmarks, images of small suns or stars, and points on a counter. Tokens have no intrinsic value of their own. Their value lies in the fact that they can be exchanged for other valued things, such as material items, services or privileges.
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Source Token economy (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
2. Token economy (Wikipedia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Token_economy, lead section
A token economy is a system of contingency management based on the systematic reinforcement of target behavior.
Section: History
The very first token economy bearing that name was founded by Ayllon and Azrin in 1961 at Anna State Hospital in Illinois.
Treats: Schizophrenia, Schizophrenia
Several recent reviews of psychosocial treatment for schizophrenia explicitly mention token economy as an effective, evidence-based treatment and one systematic review specifically examined token economy.
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