Date of Award
8-2022
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Styleguide
apa
Degree Name
Applied Behavior Analysis: M.S.
Department
Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy
College
School of Health and Human Services
First Advisor
Benjamin Witts
Second Advisor
Odessa Luna
Third Advisor
Michele Traub
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
: token board, delay reduction theory, DRT, research to practice, exchange production, generalized conditioned reinforcer
Abstract
Despite the popularity of token reinforcement in applied settings, little research has been conducted on strategies for optimizing its effectiveness in autism service delivery; however, this work is well-suited for a translational exploration. Employing an alternating treatments design, this paper serves as a pilot study, demonstrating how a random ratio (RR) token-exchange schedule can be arranged and compared to a standard fixed ratio (FR) schedule to examine differences in preference, in trial duration, rate, and accuracy, and in challenging behaviors. Two children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) participated during regularly scheduled therapy sessions. During Phase 1, we arranged the random ratio token board (RRTB) to allow participants to draw from a cup of red and blue tokens. Tokens could be exchanged for the backup reinforcer contingent on drawing 10 red tokens or one blue token. This was compared to a static token board (STB), during which the client always had to draw 10 white tokens before exchanging. During this phase, one participant showed a strong fixation on the blue tokens, consistent with a phenomenon known as sign tracking. This led researchers to revise the arrangement of the RRTB so that staff used a random number list instead of different colored tokens to determine when participants could exchange. Following Phase 2, differences in trial rate and challenging behaviors revealed that one participant performed better with the RRTB, despite preferring the STB, while the other participant performed better with the STB, despite preferring the RRTB. Limitations and future directions are discussed
Recommended Citation
Brockevelt, Kate, "A Translational Comparative Investigation of Two Token Reinforcement Systems for ASD Programming" (2022). Culminating Projects in Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy. 92.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/cpcf_etds/92
Comments/Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to my thesis chair, Dr. Benjamin Witts, for his knowledge and mentorship from the conception of this project to the final manuscript.
I would also like to thank the other committee members for their thoughtful critiques and recommendations.
Lastly, I am grateful for the support and participation of the agency where this study was conducted and the families involved in this project, without whom this study would not have been possible.