EBD Intervention: The Impact of Token Economies on Students Challenging Behaviors

Paige Woodall
March 31, 2016
SPED 442

EBD Intervention Research Paper

Did you know that the most common demand for assistance from teachers today is linked
to behavior and classroom management? So often teachers are in the midst of a lesson when a
student chooses to disrupt the class in some way or another, causing the teacher to have to stop
what they are teaching in order to address the students misbehavior. Not only do students who
continually show these disruptive behaviors hinder their own learning, they also prevent other
students in the class from getting the instruction that they need. This being said, there is a huge
need for behavior interventions that can be used for both whole class and individual students.
One intervention that has shown to be successful in increasing positive behaviors is token
economies. A token economy is a management system that has been accepted as an evidence
based strategy effective in reducing a wide range of behavior problems (Chevalier, 2012).
Token economies can be used for several types of EBD, with any student that shows prominent
behavioral concerns in the classroom. In a token economy system, a student is rewarded with a
token when they display a form of appropriate behavior that meets the specific criteria for a
token that has been established by the teacher (Classroom, 2006). Appropriate behaviors that
often receive tokens are following directions, quiet voices in the hallway, turning in work, being
on task, etc. This behavioral intervention can be helpful with several types of EBD, but specific
studies have shown the effectiveness of token economies that were implemented with
delinquents in state training schools, and students with IEPs strictly for behavioral concerns.
One of the studies analyzed looked at 125 delinquent males in a state correctional
institution, aging from 12-15 years old. The purpose of this study was to collaborate data to see
the effectiveness of a comprehensive behavior program for young delinquents on their social
behaviors in an applied setting. Data was collected on the behavior of these boys before and after

implementing a token economy in 3 settings: after returning to the cottage from school, a large
group setting during their recreational period after dinner, and when forming a line during
transition periods. These were the times that disruptive, inappropriate behaviors were most
frequently seen, so the token economy was implemented during each of these settings and
specific criteria was set for the start of token reinforcement. Data gathered in a cottage setting
after students returned from school yielded similar results in each of the three cottages. Each
cottage produced approximately a 35% improvement in appropriate behavior (Hobbs, 1976). The
second setting in which data was gathered was in a large group during the recreational period
after dinner. The average mean of appropriate behavior in cottage A increased from baseline data
of 47.3% to 75.9% after implementing the token economy, cottage B increased from 33.9%
appropriate behavior to 80.6%, and cottage C increased from 56.4% to 80% (Hobbs, 1976). The
final setting observed in this study was students behavior while forming lines during transition
periods. Data collected in this setting showed an increase in appropriate behavior from baseline
data to the implementation phase. The percentages of appropriate behavior increased from 49.6%
to 96.4% for cottage A, from 56.7% to 86.9% for cottage B, and 51.8% to 78.2% for cottage C
(Hobbs, 1976). From the data collected, it is easy to see that the implementation of the token
economy intervention greatly increased the frequency of appropriate behaviors in male
delinquents.
A second study evaluated included fifty-three, third grade students in a low
socioeconomic public school. These students ranged from 8-9 years old and amongst them were
ELL students as well as students with specific behavioral IEPs. The purpose of implementing
this token economy study was to prevent and reduce off-task and disruptive behavior in the third
grade. The researchable question proposed by the conductors of this study was determining

whether or not token economies will reduce off-task behavior (Chevalier, 2012).. During this
study, tokens were given throughout the day to students showing appropriate behaviors such as
bringing a completed reading log, following instruction, remaining on-task, etc. The goal of this
study was to determine if the use of a token economy would lead to a decrease in the frequency
of off-task behaviors. During the pretest phase, data shows that the average frequency of
disruptions in class A during the week was 107. After implementing the token economy, an
average frequency of 46 disruptions was noted, yielding a 68% reduction in off-task behaviors.
Classroom B showed an average frequency of 188 disruptions during the pretest phase. However,
after instigating the token economy, the posttest data showed an average frequency of 74
disruptions, giving a 61% decrease from the pretest to posttest (Chevalier, 2012). In total, the
information gathered through this study displayed that implementing the token economy lead to
a significant decrease in disruptive behaviors from these third grade students. The teachers of
these classrooms also noted that the students were more motivated and prone to follow
directions, stay on-task, and display desirable behaviors when they saw other students were
praised and rewarded with tokens (Chevalier, 2012).
In both studies, significant improvements were observed in increasing appropriate
behavior. In the article Classroom Interventions for Children with Attention Deficit Disorder,
the author acknowledges the fact that children with ADD/ADHD commonly show behaviors that
are disruptive and could benefit from a targeted form of behavior intervention (Classroom,
2006). A token economy is a behavior intervention strategy designed to create a more positive
and productive classroom community by using reinforcers to increase students intrinsic
motivation, which can easily be seen in the studies discussed. A few recommendations provided
through these studies include training observers, determining specific behavior criteria, choosing

tokens that meet the interests of all students, and consistently reinforcing the token economy
system.

References
Chevalier, N. T. (2012, August 25). The Token Economy: Reducing the Disruptive and Off-Task
Behavior. Retrieved March 27, 2016, from http://eric.ed.gov/?q=the token
economy&id=ED534397
Classroom Token Economy. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2016, from
http://www.wou.edu/~girodm/middle/classroom_token_economy.pdf
Hobbs, T. R., & Holt, M. (1976). The effects of token reinforcement on the behavior of
delinquents in cottage settings. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 9(2), 189198.
http://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1976.9-189