Token economy
A reinforcement system in which a learner earns tokens for target behaviors and later exchanges them for backup reinforcers.
A token economy is a planned system for delivering conditioned reinforcement. Its parts are: the target behaviors that earn tokens; the tokens themselves (stickers, chips, checkmarks, points); the backup reinforcers the tokens buy; and the exchange rules, meaning how many tokens are needed and when the learner can trade them in. Tokens become effective reinforcers because they are repeatedly exchanged for items or activities the learner already values.
Token economies are useful because a token can be delivered immediately, without interrupting the activity, while the bigger reinforcer comes later. They also reduce satiation, since the learner can choose among several backup reinforcers, and they can be used across settings and people. Some token economies also include response cost, where tokens are removed for specific problem behaviors; that part should be used only if the supervisor's plan includes it.
For a new learner, the supervisor may start with few tokens needed and frequent exchanges, then gradually increase the number of tokens required. The RBT delivers a token immediately after each target behavior, often with brief specific praise, follows the exchange rules exactly, keeps the backup reinforcers available and updated with preference data, and records tokens earned and exchanged.
A token economy fails when tokens are given inconsistently, when backup reinforcers lose their value, or when the learner can get the backup reinforcers freely without tokens.
Example and non-example
| Example | A teen on a work-skills program earns a point on a card for each completed task. At the end of the shift, 10 points can be exchanged for 15 minutes of a chosen video game. |
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| Non-example | An RBT gives a client a sticker at the end of every session regardless of what the client did, and the stickers are never exchanged for anything. The stickers are not contingent on behavior and are not backed up, so this is not a token economy. |
Don't confuse it with
| Backup reinforcer | The backup reinforcer is the item or activity bought with tokens, while the token economy is the whole system of earning and exchanging. |
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| Generalized conditioned reinforcer | A generalized conditioned reinforcer is a type of stimulus, which tokens often are; a token economy is the procedure that uses them. |
Test yourself
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Question 1A token system says the RBT delivers a token after every correct response. During a busy session at a day program, the RBT often forgets to give the token. How is this fidelity error best described?
Show answer
C: An error of omission. Leaving out a step the plan requires is an error of omission. Adding something the plan does not call for is an error of commission. Both lower procedural fidelity.
- A: Reactivity is a change in behavior caused by being observed.
- B: An error of commission is adding something that should not happen, such as giving a token for an incorrect response.
- D: Observer drift is a change in how behavior is recorded, not in how the plan is carried out.
Task A.8 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 2A new token system is introduced for a client, but the client shows no interest in the tokens and the target behavior has not changed. Which step in the plan is most likely to make the tokens effective?
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A: Teach the exchange by having the client trade tokens for a backup reinforcer right away. Tokens become reinforcers only after they are paired with backup reinforcers. Early on, the client should exchange tokens soon after earning them, often after just one or two, so the tokens reliably lead to something valuable.
- B: More tokens do not help if the tokens have not yet been paired with backup reinforcers.
- C: The look of a token does not give it value; pairing with backup reinforcers does.
- D: Removing tokens is response cost, a punishment procedure, and it does not establish tokens as reinforcers.
Task C.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 3In a token system, what does the exchange rate refer to?
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A: How many tokens each backup reinforcer costs. The exchange rate is the price of backup reinforcers in tokens, for example 5 tokens for a turn on the swing.
- B: How many tokens each response earns is the token earning schedule, not the exchange rate.
- C: When trades happen is the timing of the exchange, not the price of backup reinforcers.
- D: Removing tokens for problem behavior is response cost.
Task C.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task C.11 Token economies in content area C, Behavior Acquisition, which is 19 of the 75 scored questions.