1. Chapter 8: Token Economy, Contingency Contract, Behavioural Child Management Training
PSYC D
CBT Chapter 8

2. Token Economy Takes place within an enclosed environment
“you want to live here you play by my rules”
Usually implemented for groups, not individuals
Use of tokens as symbolic reinforcers
PSYC D
CBT Chapter 8

3. Token Economy
Reinforcement: Obtaining tokens for desirable behavioiurs
Punishment: Losing tokens for undesirable ones
Tokens are exchanged for backup (actual) reinforcers
Generalized reinforcers
PSYC D
CBT Chapter 8

4. Token Economy: Basic Elements
List of behaviours and the number of tokens earned or lost for each
List of backup reinforcers and the token cost of each
Type of token
Procedures for the operation of the token economy
PSYC D
CBT Chapter 8

5. Token Economy: Individualization
Possible to temporarily modify benefits and costs for particular individuals
Those with particular behavioral deficits
New members to the economy
Eventual integration into the group system
PSYC D
CBT Chapter 8

6. Evaluating Token Economies
Appropriate for adults and children with varying intellectual capacities
Appropriate for a wide range of behaviours in many different environments
Increases the dignity and self-esteem of participants
Often rapid loss of treatment gains
Importance of shifting to a “natural” type of reinforcer
PSYC D
CBT Chapter 8

7. Contingency Contract
Written agreement specifying the relationship between behaviours and their consequences
Signed by the client
Includes reinforcement and punishment
Client is an active participant in its drafting
Contract provides structure for interactions, opportunities to practice negotiating and cooperation
Strangely, not a lot of research on this topic…
PSYC D
CBT Chapter 8

8. Behavioural Child Management Training
Recognizes that the individual (the child) may not be the appropriate unit of measurement
Rather there are maladaptive parent-child interactions
Teaching parents new, more adaptive skills
PSYC D
CBT Chapter 8

9. Behavioural Child Management Training
Typical parental problems:
Vague or inconsistent instructions
Overuse of punishments (threats, anger)
Inconsistent or ineffective application of punishment
Little reinforcment for prosocial, desirable behaviours
PSYC D
CBT Chapter 8

10. Behavioural Child Management Training 2
Parents are taught to implement behavior modification principles (reinforcement)
Parents as therapists
Includes planned activity scheduling (differential reinforcement)
Can be taught to single families or to groups
Long term maintenance of training benefits
PSYC D
CBT Chapter 8

11. Maintaining Behaviours in Changing Environments
Maintaining behaviours is often difficult with major environmental changes
What can help?
Shifting the reinforcement from an external to an internal locus
Broadening the subject of treatment from an individual unit
PSYC D
CBT Chapter 8