The Psychiatric Technician is establishing the use of a token economy in the group of ADD children. Which of the following will make this system more successful in getting the desired behaviors?

The Psychiatric Technician is establishing the use of a token economy in the group of ADD children. Which of the following will make this system more successful in getting the desired behaviors?

• A. Allow a great deal of flexibility in the behaviors that are accepted.
• B. Gradually increase the number of tokens that are given for the desired behaviors.
• C. Give the student movie tickets when he has 100% compliance in all desired behaviors.
• D. Pair the delivery of the token with a social reinforcer.

Answer: (D)

Token economies work best when the token is paired with a social reinforcer, so the child quickly learns that earning tokens leads to meaningful, immediate praise and attention. For kids with ADD, immediate and clear feedback helps sustain attention and reinforces desired behaviors consistently. When the token delivery is tied to social reinforcement, the token becomes a valued cue that staff can reliably use, supporting steady motivation and behavior change. Other approaches lack this immediacy and clarity: allowing too much flexibility in which behaviors count reduces discrimination and predictability; simply increasing token numbers without strengthening the token’s reinforcing value doesn’t ensure consistent reinforcement; rewarding with a large, infrequent prize like a movie ticket after perfect compliance is not timely or frequent enough to shape ongoing behavior.

Token economies work best when the token is paired with a social reinforcer, so the child quickly learns that earning tokens leads to meaningful, immediate praise and attention. For kids with ADD, immediate and clear feedback helps sustain attention and reinforces desired behaviors consistently. When the token delivery is tied to social reinforcement, the token becomes a valued cue that staff can reliably use, supporting steady motivation and behavior change. Other approaches lack this immediacy and clarity: allowing too much flexibility in which behaviors count reduces discrimination and predictability; simply increasing token numbers without strengthening the token’s reinforcing value doesn’t ensure consistent reinforcement; rewarding with a large, infrequent prize like a movie ticket after perfect compliance is not timely or frequent enough to shape ongoing behavior.