Effects of Token Manipulation on Responding within a Token Economy Implemented with Children with Autism

Token economies are an effective behavior-management tool used across multiple populations and settings. However, researchers have shown that several variables may impact its effectiveness (Hackenberg 2009, 2018). One variable within a token economy that has not been thoroughly studied is token manipulation or the extent to which the learner physically manipulates a tangible token. Thus, the current study compared the effectiveness of a token economy when participants physically manipulated tokens (token manipulation) to when the experimenter manipulated the tokens (no manipulation). In addition, we evaluated participant preference between the two conditions (i.e., token manipulation and no manipulation). The results showed higher rates of the target response during the no token manipulation condition for one participant, while no differences were observed for the other two participants. Two participants preferred the token manipulation condition, whereas the other participant showed no preference.