What is the token economy?

and the token economy is a technique that is designed to modify behavior by positive strengthening. It is based on the principle of operational conditioning, in which the frequency of good behavior can be strengthened and the frequency of poor behavior can be reduced, with a possible goal to completely extinguish bad behavior. The token economies are commonly used in institutional environments such as prison, schools and residential treatment facilities, and can also be used at home by parents who understand how to apply the token economy. The chips themselves are not a strengthening, but people can save their chips and exchange them for the things they want, which is a form of strengthening. For example, people can collect tickets to expose behavior considered desirable and at the end of the day they could trade tickets for candies, outside the privileges, and other things they might want.

For the token economy, several characteristics must be present.First, the "good behavior" must be clearly defined, and people understand what they have to do to earn a token. The value of the chips must also be defined to understand how many tokens must earn to redeem rewards of their choice. For people who are highly visual, tokens are sometimes awarded on punch cards or grids to see how many tokens they earned and how close they are to reward.

Also, the

token economy cannot include deprivation and neglect. People cannot trade tokens for basic needs such as food, bed linen, bathroom access, etc., because these needs must be satisfied regardless of good behavior. It is important that the things people receive in the store for tokens are rewards and are suitable for person and settings. Economies token must also be consistently used; If Johnny earns the token for sitting quietly in a circle for 10 minutes, then Susie.

When a token economy is first introduced, people usually earn a tokeny fast. The aim is to acquaint people with the system and show them how good behavior results in reward. Over time, people have to show behavior more consistently and for a long time to earn their tokens. For example, a teacher who is trying to get a child to calm down during a nap can first give the child a token for every 30 seconds that the child can always lie. Over time, the intervals would increase to a minute, two minutes, and so on, until the child can receive a token for five or 10 minutes of good behavior, unlike 30 seconds at the beginning.