Token reinforcement procedures are used to increase appropriate behavior (e.g., completion of instructional tasks) and decrease problem behavior (e.g., aggression) in a wide array of clinical contexts. Token exchange-production schedules, which specify the number of tokens that must be accrued to produce the exchange schedule, are important…

We combined several single-subject designs to assess the effects of contingent and noncontingent token reinforcement on moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) exhibited by 4 preschool-aged children. Higher overall levels and longer bouts of MVPA reliably occurred when tokens were delivered contingent on MVPA for 3 of the 4 children when…

When a student exhibits challenging classroom behaviors that are resistant to traditional classroom management systems, his/her individualized education program (IEP) team conducts a functional behavior assessment (FBA). The FBA process is a series of assessments designed to identify the function of the student's behavior. This is done by…

The prevalence of autism continues to rise, yet the ability to receive treatment or caregiver training through traditional in-person methods continues to be a precluding factor for many families. Studies have shown that parent training provides benefits to caregivers and children through increased success of interventions, implementation, and…

Challenging behaviors involving food are common for individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and often lead to obesity and other chronic health conditions. Efforts to decrease these behaviors, such as isolation during meals and strict monitoring of food consumption, can be stigmatizing. To decrease the food stealing of a 7 year-old girl with…

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…

Many teachers are concerned about their ability to work effectively with students who have a diagnosis of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to determine the perceived efficacy of common interventions used to address negative ADHD behaviors in the elementary and middle school…

A multiple probe design across behaviors was used to evaluate the effectiveness of a SMART Board used in conjunction with teacher delivered constant time delay (CTD) to teach environmental text to three young students with disabilities and minimal group learning experience during small group direct instruction. Observational learning, instructive…

Two experiments were conducted to compare choices between sequences of reinforcers in pigeon (Experiment 1) and human (Experiment 2) subjects, using functionally analogous procedures. The subjects made pairwise choices among 3 sequence types, all of which provided the same overall reinforcement rate, but differed in their temporal patterning.…

We evaluated the strategy of increasing precursors to compliance on the compliance of 2 preschool boys. Modeling and differential reinforcement were used to increase specific responses to his name being called prior to the opportunity to comply with an instruction. The precursors were stopping the ongoing activity and orienting to, making eye…

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the use of a treatment package comprised of a social story, discrimination training, and differential reinforcement with response cost on the vocal stereotypy of one preschooler diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. The study took place in a preschool classroom of a public school and was implemented…

The delivery of food contingent on 10 s of consecutive toy engagement resulted in a decrease in engagement and a corresponding increase in other responses that had been previously reinforced with food. Similar effects were not observed when tokens exchangeable for the same food were delivered, suggesting that engagement was disrupted by the…

Covert self-injurious behavior (i.e., behavior that occurs in the absence of other people) can be difficult to treat. Traditional treatments typically have involved sophisticated methods of observation and often have employed positive punishment procedures. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a variable momentary differential…

Token economies have a long research and applied history within clinical settings and classroom education (Kazdin, 1982). However, despite reported successes in improving physical activity behaviors (Alstot, 2012), research examining token reinforcement implemented specifically in physical education is virtually nonexistent. Therefore, the purpose…

We analyzed the effects of verbal mediating responses on the acquisition and generalization of say-do correspondence and noncorrespondence. Participants were assigned to groups in which either reinforcers (feedback and tokens) were arranged for say-do correspondence and noncorrespondence, or no reinforcers were programmed. Participants in these…