J. Behav. Thu. & Exp. Psychrot. Vol. 13. No. 4, pp. 331-332, 1982.

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A SIMPLE PROCEDURE TO IMPROVE A TOKEN ECONOMY

RICHARD CARPENTER* and GLENDON CAST0

Exceptional Child Center, Utah State University

Summary-A simple procedure to improve a token economy consists of the use of points as tokens backed up by items at an established merchandise store. We list the advantages of this procedure in contrast with the use of a “token store”.

In the early 196Os, Myers (1960) and Myers, Craig and Meyers (1961) found that tokens could acquire secondary reinforcement pro- perties. Staats et al. (1964) extended Myers’ early work using access to back-up reinforcers that were spatially and temporarily removed from the emission of the requisite behavior. While much of this early work used tokens for immediate exchange and often paired with only one back-up reinforcer, almost every recent study, starting with O’Leary and Becker (1964), has relied on tokens being exchanged for a multiplicity of back-up reinforcers ranging from candy (Quay et al., 1967) to preferred activities (Lovitt and Curtiss, 1969). It is currently assumed that the tokens become rein- forcing due to pairing with back-up reinforcers. A wide range of activities, and items such as toys, increase the likelihood that all children in a classroom will find at least one thing for which they can trade their tokens.

There has emerged a plethora of strategies for using back-up reinforcers. For instance, Hall et al. (1972) encouraged the use of an auction as a means of having children spend their tokens. More recently, in an effort to procure interesting back-up reinforcers, Eller, Ideker and Holben (1978) obtained supplies from local merchants, who donated such items as cosmetic samples and other goods. However, the problem that many token economies face is the stocking of these supplies in a “token

store’ ’ . Often this presents a difficult manage- ment situation in terms of maintenance and supervision as well as keeping the store attrac- tive and stimulating.

PROCEDURE

A possible alternative to in-house token stores was implemented in a recent alcohol abuse prevention project at a boarding high school where points for compliance with certain self-control procedures (i.e. self-monitoring of drinking) could be earned.

Only samples of back-up reinforcers were kept on the project unit. Specifically, these consisted of samples of athletic clothing which were placed in “The Store” (a large broom closet). The samples of clothing were obtained from a local sports store. An arrangement was worked out with the sports store to provide the project with gift certificates which were signed and filled out for the client’s use. The clients were also encouraged to go to and brouse through the sports store itself. This latter arrangement was designed to increase motiva- tion to earn purchasing points. In addition to the sports store gift certificate, which allowed saving points for delayed reinforcers, arrange- ments were made for subjects to use vouchers at a local hamburger/soda shop. These vouchers could be used for small purchases and per- mitted for a more rapid turnover of points, as

Requests for reprints should be addressed to Richard Carpenter, Binghamton Psychiatric Center, 425 Robinson Street, Binghamton, New York 13901, U.S.A. *Now at Binghamton Psychiatric Center, Binghamton, New York, U.S.A.

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332 RICHARD CARPENTER and GLENDON CAST0

well as for quicker contact with reinforcers. A student’s points were tallied by the project secretary, while the awarding of these points was the responsibility of the student’s peer counselor. The secretary kept a running tally which provided the staff with an account of the debits and credits for each student. Long- term saving of points was allowed.

Thus, this procedure enabled the use of real stores which had all the components of an in- house “token store”. Furthermore, real stores had the marketing expertise to enhance the motivational salience of the back-up reinforcers.

In sum, the following advantages accrue in such a procedure:

(1) It eliminates extensive supervisory res- ponsibilities for an in-house store, freeing needed staff for client work.

(2) It eliminates the need for large inven- tories in the in-house store.

(3) It eliminates the time and expense needed for keeping the in-house store attractive.

(4) It provides merchants with business and reinforces their cooperation. This may also induce merchants to offer bulk-rate group discounts.

(5) It eliminates the problem of having old merchandise in the in-house store. Thus, only the “latest” fashions, etc. are available, which eliminates accumulation of items that are not attractive to clients.

REFERENCES

Eller B. F., Ideker J. S. and Holben M. M. (1978) So you don’t have any money for your token economy, Psychol. Rep. 43, 322.

Hall R. G., Hall S. M., Hayden T. and Osborne A. E. (April, 1972) Reducing the Supply of Reinforcers and Auctions on a Token Economy, Paper presented at the Western Psychological Association Convention, Port- land, Oregon.

Myers N. (1960) Extinction following partial and continuous primary and secondary reinforcement, J. Exp. Psycho/. 60, 172-179.

Myers N. A., Craig G. J. and Myers J. L. (1961) Secondary reinforcement as a function of a number of reinforced trials, Child Develop. 32, 765-772.

Quay H. C., Sprague R. L., Werry J. S. and McQueen M. M. (1967) Conditioning visual orientation of conduct problem children in the classroom, J. Exp. Child Psychol. 5, 512-517.

Staats A., Finley J., Minke K. A., Wolf M. and Brooks C. (1964) A reinforcer system and experimental procedure for the laboratory study of reading acquisition, Child Develop. 35, 209-23 1