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Token Economy

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Definition

The token economy is a highly individualized, reinforcement-based, behavior change system, derived from the principles of operant conditioning that can be used with individuals or groups. The specific components of a token economy include (a) the identification of measurable and observable target behaviors (e.g., verbal utterances, academic readiness behaviors) by intervention agents (e.g., teachers, parents), (b) the administering of tokens (e.g., points, check marks, real or imitation money), which function as generalized conditioned reinforcers, by the intervention agent to the participant, and (c) the exchange of tokens by the participant for a variety of backup reinforcers (e.g., line leader, computer time, snacks). Generally speaking, participants earn tokens contingent on the occurrence of target behaviors; subsequently participants exchange the tokens for a variety of backup reinforcers (Cooper et al. 2007). Likely the most widely known and used token in the world...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education, College of Education Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Summer Ferreri

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  1. Summer Ferreri
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Correspondence to Summer Ferreri .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Fred R. Volkmar

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Ferreri, S. (2021). Token Economy. In: Volkmar, F.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91280-6_198

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