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THE TOKEN ECONOMY: A DECADE LATER
Author(s) -
Kazdin Alan E.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1982.15-431
Subject(s) - token economy , security token , scale (ratio) , resistance (ecology) , salient , psychology , business , public relations , computer science , political science , social psychology , computer security , reinforcement , artificial intelligence , ecology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
In the last decade, the token economy has been extended widely across populations and behaviors in treatment, rehabilitation, educational, and community settings. Outcome research has expanded as well to include large‐scale program evaluations and comparative and combined treatment studies of the token economy. In a previous review (Kazdin & Bootzin, 1972), several obstacles were identified for the effective application of the token economy. These included identifying procedures to enhance program efficacy, to train staff, to overcome client resistance, and to promote long‐term maintenance and transfer of training. The present paper discusses recent advances in research and reviews progress on the major issues identified previously. New issues have become salient in the last decade that pertain to the extension of the token economy to institutional settings. The demands for maintaining the integrity of treatment, the ability to integrate token economies within existing institutional constraints, and the disseminability of the procedures on a large scale are major issues that may dictate the future of the token economy.