This study compared two goal-setting approaches found in the Precision Teaching literature, namely the minimum celeration line and the beat your personal best during the mathematical practice of three male students diagnosed with autism, aged 8-9. An adapted alternating treatments design with a control condition was embedded in a concurrent…

The purpose of the current two-experiment study was to examine the use of a preference assessment for dimensions of reinforcement to inform an effective token economy arrangement. Three participants diagnosed with developmental disabilities who engaged in negatively reinforced problem behavior participated in this study. During Experiment 1, a…

A forced-choice preference assessment using pictures and no access upon selection was used to determine preferences for community-based activities with 4 young adults with autism and intellectual disability. High- and low-preference activities were then provided as delayed consequences, using a token economy, for completion of vocational tasks in…

We compared the effects of a token economy intervention that either did or did not include the perseverative interests of a 7-year-old boy with autism. An alternating treatment design revealed that the perseverative interest-based tokens were more effective at decreasing challenging behavior and increasing on-task behavior than tokens absent the…

The purpose of the present investigation was to extend the research related to the possible negative side effects of extrinsic reinforcement on children's compliant behavior, particularly the overjustification effect. Specifically, this study examined the effects of a token reinforcement procedure in a naturalistic environment (third grade…