Token economies: Evidence-based recommendations for practitioners

Abstract

Token economies are among the oldest and most successful teaching programs in applied behavior analysis. Despite a rich history of basic and applied research on token systems, there remains a research-to-practice gap. Our aim in this paper is to bridge this gap between research and application, by providing evidence-based recommendations and practical guidelines for application of token reinforcement methods. The recommendations in Part 1 are for building a token economy from the ground up, in learners without a history of token reinforcement, whereas those in Part 2 are concerned with existing token economies without regard to how they were established. Although token economies have proven generally effective across a range of settings and populations, they could be even more effective when based on the latest research and theory. Thus, apart from specific recommendations, we hope to show the benefits of an integrated evidence-based approach to the application of token reinforcement principles in educational and clinical settings.