Date of Award
12-2018
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Applied Behavior Analysis: M.S.
Department
Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy
College
School of Health and Human Services
First Advisor
Michele Traub
Second Advisor
Benjamin Witts
Third Advisor
Kimberly Schulze
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
token economy, signaling, within-stimulus, extra-stimulus
Abstract
Token economies are commonly used to both increase and decrease behavior. Salient signaling may enhance the discriminability within a token economy system, thus increasing treatment effectiveness. Varying the quality of reinforcement to match the behavior of an individual may also impact responding. The current research compared the effectiveness of a no-signal condition, within-stimulus prompt condition, and an extra-stimulus prompt condition to signal the varying quality of reinforcement within a token economy system. Tokens were delivered to participants contingent on correct responding in a mastered skill task. In addition, Xs were delivered contingent on target behavior during session, with varying magnitudes of reinforcement being made available depending on the occurrences of target behavior. Results for Alex and Tommy indicate slightly higher rates of target behaviour observed in the control condition compared to the treatment conditions. However, results from the treatment conditions were undifferentiated. Results for Nathan were undifferentiated. Results suggest that varying qualities of reinforcement may be effective within a token economy system however, a prevailing method of signaling was not established.
Recommended Citation
Macdonell, Caitlin, "Signaling the Availability of Varying Quality of Reinforcement in a Token Economy" (2018). Culminating Projects in Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy. 57.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cpcf_etds/57
Comments/Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my advisor and committee chair, Dr. Michele Traub. Your guidance, advice, and feedback throughout this process has been invaluable. You always ensured I stayed on track and remained positive throughout this experience.
Thank you to Dr. Ben Witts and Dr. Kimberly Schultz for taking time out of your busy schedules to not only review my work but also provide me with feedback that always challenged me.
Thank you to my friends and family who never stopped encouraging me to reach my goals. Your continued support was invaluable throughout this process.