Chapter 24 – Token Economies

This chapter describes the typical steps used to set up and manage a token economy. In various work settings, token economies have been used to increase safety behavior, decrease absenteeism, and enhance on-the-job performance. A store or commissary for storing and dispensing backup reinforcers is an essential feature of most token economies. While token economies are sometimes regarded only as means to manage problem behavior within institutional or school settings, their more important function is to help individuals adjust to the natural environment. Following the token economy being successful, it is usually necessary to use schedule thinning to transfer the target behaviors to reinforcers in the natural environment, and thus to wean the participants from tokens. Contingency management systems are a category of token economies in which individuals obtain tokens in the form of points, vouchers, or money for decreasing their intake of harmful substances as specified in their contingency contract.