Azaroff Ch 13 and 14
Terms
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- Token econ should not remain in effect indefinitely when
- Participants eventually will move or shift to an enviornment of devoid of tokens reinforcements; criminal with short sentences; juvenile offenders assigned to group home for a short period; abused, neglected, or acutely distrubed clients; people in comprehensive training or treatment programs; temporary special class placement, and intensive workshops for managers or staff
- Pairing social feedback with token delivery
- If positive feedback, like praise or approval, were sufficient reinforcers for a given target response, there would be little need for a token economy
- Time Out from Token Spending
- a procedure in which access to the token economy (redeeming) sources of reinforcement is removed or reduced for a particular time period contingent on a response. The opportunity to receive reinforcement is contingently removed for a specified time.
- Multiple-baseline across individuals
- instead of introducing the intervention across a sequence of behaviors, the multiple-baseline across individuals involves collecting baselines on the same behavior of several persons, preferably in different settings.
- Disadvantages of withdrawal design
- relate to the need to establish baselines and fear of recovery of unwanted behavior during the withdrawal phase. Establishing and measuring baselines take time. In addition, the practitioner often fears that the modified behavior may not recover after the return to baseline conditions.
- Advantages of variation in multiple baseline design
- Offers alternative to withdrawal design. Tactic uses baeline of differing lengths to control for time-dependent extraneous variables.
- Characteristics of a well-designed token economy
- Incorporates all the essential aspects of an effective reinforcement program. Targeted behaviors, or approximations to them, are immediately and consistently reinforced by delivery of a sufficient number of tokens
- Common advantages and purposes of single-case design
- Single case design can provide the necessary control conditions free of the limitations of group designs. Their most important attribute is their ablity to go beyond demonstrating correlations to revealing functional relations. Using single-case designs to demonstrate functional relations promotes accountabilities.
- Logistically sound and instructive token econ
- In a case of multiple functions, tokens consisted of wooden puzzle pieces. The children could fit the piece into a template and exchange it for snack items when the template was filled.
- Why gradually phase out token econ
- 1. take time and require careful planning and monitoring. 2. superimposing rewards upon behavior already occuring at high rate might be aversive 3. some people are outraged at the idea of children and other dependent individuals with problems receiving tangible rewards for behaving as "supposed". 4. potential for abuse.5. Most employment settings, schools, and human-service programs do not normally use token systems.
- Group designs versus single-subject designs
- Group designs permit us to draw inferences for the larger group from which the test samples have been drawn. B/c they are based on combined scores, they do not permit extension to any individual member of the group. Another potential difficulty with the group design is that postive effects for some individuals may be camouflaged, especially when others showed neutral or negative effects.
- Single-case (subject) experimental design
- serve a number of the same controlling functions as group designs do, and then some. Their most important attribute is their ability to go beyond demonstrating correlations to revealing functional relations
- delay is interposed b/w token accumulation and token exchange
- An important temporal aspect of token economy is the time between token accumulation and token exchange.
- Purpose of recordkeeping
- inform us how effectively the system is working. The other records provide useful info for staff on how closely procedures are adhered to and signal when to alter the price of a back-up, vary response requirements, begin to phase out the economy.
- Token economy
- system that consists of a combination of contingencies incorporating many effective behavioral procedures-primarily, powerful reinforcement contingencies.
- Moving from an artificial to a more natural reinforcers within token econ
- 1. backup reinforcers were replaced on a periodic basic. 2. as responding reached and sustained its intended rate and tempo, we continue praising and giving other forms of recognition but began to substitute activities and privileges for tangible rewards 3. Shifted to certificates, transferable for time to be spent at high-interest educational or otherwise relevant activities.
- Purpose of staff training
- Success or failure of a token program rests upon the precision with which it is implemented; the care with which it is monitored, how tokens are delivered, and how consistently other logistical aspects are implemented.
- A delay of token delivery into a token economy and why?
- Token econ permit the immediate delivery of conditioned reinforcers as soon as the target response occurs. Introducing delay is reasonable b/c immediate reinforcement is not characteristics of the real-world contingencies.
- Tactics for minimizing the disadvantages of withdrawl desgins
- Suit the design to question, rather than the other way around. Be certain to control your experiemental analysis, as you remain watchful for interesting or puzzling occurrences, and then pursue those paths that seem most promising.
- Purpose of reinforcing consequences
- Should follow practice, at least intermittent, if newly acquired skills are to persist over time. The principle also applies to implementation of contingency packages such as token econ. In school, supervisor may provide those contingencies in written or oral feedback.
- Mulitiple-baseline across behaviors
- composed of a series of several responses that are identified and measured to provide a baseline against which change can be measured. Once the baselines are established, an intervention is applied to one of those behaviors but non to the others that remain under baseline conditions.
- Accountablitiy
- objective demonstration and communication of the effectiveness of a given program: functional relations, behavioral outcomes, cost benefits, consumer satisfaction. By collecting data objectively and analyzing the function of procedural effects rigourously, behavior analysts become accountable for their results.
- Rationale for selecting which token econ
- In general, tokens should be suited to the population with whom you are working
- Advantages of obtaining approval and informed consent
- token econ is intrusive, b/c they introduce many novel and artificial stimuli into a situation. You are in a better position to respond to questions from those who will be directly and indirectly involved: administrators, supervisors, employees, parents and participants.
- Withdrawl (ABAB) design
- An experiemental design that involves the removal of the intervention in order to test its effect.
- Response cost
- reductive procedure in which a specified amount of available reinforcers are contingently withdrawn following the response. Usually these reinforcers are withdrawn from clients reserve, as with loss of points or yardage
- Designing a successful token economy
- Obtain approval and informed consent, preparing to keep appropriate records and training and supervising staff.
- The advantages of withdrawl design
- Demonstrates a functional relation between the dependent behavior and the intervention, thereby providing a major basis for accountability. Also can be used to determine how successfully the modified behavior persists in the absence of the arranged contingencies.
- Disadvantages of variation in multiple baseline design
- major consideration in using the multiple baseline design to demonstrate experiemental control is that one must be reasonably assured beforehand that the dependent variable or target behaviors are not independent or highly interrelated.
- Confounding (extraneous) variables
- Uncontrolled variables that influence the outcome of an experiement to an unknown extent, making precise evaluation of the effects of the independent variable impossible.
- Reversal
- An experimental design in which the effects of the independent variable are tested by introducing a phase (e.g. an Alt R DRO treatment phase) in which the direction of the change reverses (i.e. reinforcement of being out of seat).
- Potential problems of tangible back-ups
- When minor interpretive misunderstanding occurs, the system needs clarification.
- Moving from one experimental phase to another.
- The extent of the change is assessed by noting any marked altercations is following: the level of the data-how high data have climbed or low they have dropped; their rate of change-how rapidly they have been modified over time; their variablity-the extent to which the data points have bounced about the new level or trend.
- Probe
- a brief phase in a behavior analysis experiment designed to test the effect of a given intervention. A short withdrawal phase is a probe.
- Factors to consider in selecting back-up reinforcers
- Token econ are well suited to group contingency arrangements, b/c tokens may be retained by individuals, or they may be shared, divided or exchanged. Assume that group cooperation is a goal, such as a trip, dance, game, musical program, puppet show, or play. When access to such activities depends on the performance of each individual, group members tend to help and encourage one another.
- Functional relation
- A lawful relation b/w values of two variables. In behavior analysis, a dependent variable (treated behavior) and a given independent variable (intervention or treatment procedure) are functionally related.
- "Tiered" or "level" system used to integrate delay of reinforcement in a token economy
- Used in some-well established econ show how delay can be incorporated. An earn and lose exchange system, points are earned or lost almost moment by moment. Exchange occur each couple of hours
- Variations of withdrawal design
- baselines with reinforcement not contingent on the dependent variable
- Multiple-baseline across situations
- In this design, "data are collected for a target behavior for one or more subjects across different circumstances or situations.