Token economy.
Please find an example of a token economy on the internet. Briefly discuss/summarize the token economy you read about and discuss in depth the site based on the readings from this week and from what he have learned so far in class.
List the url.
Please be sure to use as many behavioral terms as you can.
Let me know if you have any questions,
--Dr. M
Please find an example of a token economy on the internet. Briefly discuss/summarize the token economy you read about and discuss in depth the site based on the readings from this week and from what he have learned so far in class.
List the url.
Please be sure to use as many behavioral terms as you can.
Let me know if you have any questions,
--Dr. M
The token economy that I will be discussing is Gamestop PowerUp Rewards. The tokens used in this system are points that you receive for making purchases or trading games in at GameStop. The points can then be used to get gaming gear, fun collectibles, hard-to-find gaming items, discounts on merchandise, and coupons for additional savings. The token economy is based upon positive reinforcement, which elicit’s the target behavior of customers doing more business with GameStop. You get a point for every dollar you spend. The costs of the reinforcers differ depending on how much the items would cost if you bought them using cash instead of points. You can see how many points each item would cost online after activating a free account online. If you activate the pro version of the membership for an annual cost of $14.99 you receive additional discounts, one year of Game Informer, and contests. The points are banked on a card, which you must present at GameStop when making the purchase to acquire the points, which leads us to the con of always having the have your card present and forgetting is disappointing. Your points also disappear if there is no activity for a year. The pros of using a card is that it is very hard to duplicate and corrupt the system.
http://www.poweruprewards.com/Home/Benefits
Terms: Token Economy, Positive Reinforcement, Elicits, Target Behavior, Reinforcers, Banked, Tokens
Online Banking (Relationship) Rewards
I hear lots of ads for online banking, as well as rewards cards. After learning about token economies, I realized these banks use a token economy. I decided that I wanted to learn more about how bank's use token economics. Some are the big issues to address with token economics are: tokens used, reinforcers, and target behavior.
Key Bank is a bank that has a program called "Relationship Rewards". Key Bank uses points that are received when certain behaviors are emitted. Some behaviors yield 1 point, while other behaviors yield 100 points. 500 points are given on your birthday. It appears that the point are kept in an account much like a bank account that you can check on regularly.
When the points reach a certain amount, they can be traded for certain prizes. Some of the prizes include gift certificates to retailers and restaurants as well as airline flights. The only thing is that on the website they didn't explain how many points it took to receive a prize.
There were several different target behaviors. The behaviors included: debit card transactions, automated debit/credit, checks, online bill pay, ATM deposit. They also has behaviors related to expanding your relationship which also receive points. These behaviors include: opening a CD, starting a savings account, getting a home equity loan.
It seems like a well organized system of token economics. The points can't be stolen, lost, forged very easily. They don't have to be carried around, but can be transferred as easily as money in a bank account. I thought it was clever how they had higher rather than lower points. instead of 1 token, you receive 100 points. It won't change how long it takes to get your prize, but it makes you feel like you are taking larger leaps towards the reinforcement. There was a cap for each month, so that people don't get too many points in each category of behaviors
The target behavior is well defined. You can easily tell if you elicited a behavior that will result in gaining points. You will also know exactly how many points you receive, because they clearly illustrated how many points are received for each behavior.
After learning about Key Bank's token economy, I had a couple questions. They didn't say how many points are required to receive a positive reinforcement?
It was interesting looking at the different functional classes of behaviors. Some behaviors are taking money out of the account, while other behaviors put money into the account. Some behaviors use services that they provide (at a cost) like the online bill payments.
It was very interesting to look at token economies from a bankers perspective. It makes you think twice before you unknowingly yield to the discriminative stimulus of buying paraphernalia in order to get more points.
Terms: elicit, emitting, behavior, reinforcement, positive reinforcement, token economy, discriminative stimulus, functional class, target behaviors
https://www.key.com/personal/rewards/debit-card-rewards.jsp
http://www.educateautism.com/token-economy.html
This website does a great job in describing what Token Economy is and how it works within an educational setting. A method that has been used in strengthening a behavior, or increasing frequency. It also has easy to read diagram on the basic cycle of token economy. Goes into detail what a back-up reinforcer is ( an activity, item or privilege that the child likes and enjoys), what type of “tokens” can be used and the advantages of a token economy. One really interesting section of this website is when the author begins to talk about things to consider with a Token Economy. Such as if the economy is being implemented on a large scale, it can be time consuming and take a lot of effort to organize and train staff to correctly implement, this made me think about Token economy from Poyner Panthers on TRRC. The short article also explains the 7 different elements of the Token Economy ( Target behaviors, type of token, backup reinforcers, reinforcement schedule, exchange criterion, time/place for exchange, and response cost). All except one element I was able to recognize, response cost, the article explains this as a type of penalty or fine where tokens are taken away for engaging in inappropriate behaviors. The article continues to discuss how the token economy is used to help a 5 year old boy who is diagnosed with autism.
Target Behavior: making eye contact with the teacher before he is giving directions
Tokens used: star stickers
Backup Reinforcer: being able to play with a toy of his choice for a few min
reinforcement schedule: every time he emitted eye contact for more than a second showing he was being attending to the mentor, he was given a 1 token ( star)
Rate of token exchange for reinforces: every 10 tokens he would earn a back up reinforcer
Time and place to exchange for backup reinforcers: was done immediately when he earned the 10 tokens.
Response Cost: there was no response cost for this economy.
Terms: behavior, reinforcement, positive reinforcement, token economy, target behavior and emitted.
http://www.sbbh.pitt.edu/PowerPoints%20and%20Study%20Guides%202524%20%20Spring%202011/TokenEconomyElementaryGruberStudyGuidePDF.pdf
The material provided on this website is very helpful with explaining what an token economy is and how it works. Token economy can work in almost any setting that you're wanting to reward positive behaviors.
The example that was presented on the website deals with a family, the parents want to inforce the chores more and reduce the arguing between the two sibilings. The parents set up a two column chart, one side stating positive behaviors and the other stating negitive behaviors. They were specifically trying to reinforce and punish certain behaviors, so they clearly addressed what each behavior meant. Then they posted these sheets of papers with the positive and negitive behaviors on them to the back of each childs door.
The next process involved the whole family, the parents included the children in picking out the rewards so they nknew it would be somthing the children would enjoy. The rewards varied from giftcards, extra time on the computer, or a coupon to host a sleepover. The parents decided how many tokens each reward would be worth, they also added in that the children would be fined for any negitive behaviors. The parents chose tickets as the tokens, but in order for no confusion the children would get different colored tickets.
The parents practiced using this token economy system and made sure to emit all their rules they set. They made sure to give praise whenever a positive behavior was being excersised. And to commit to the consequence of giving a fine for any negitive behaviors. Using this system the parents saw a big change in the way chores were done and also the arguin between the siblings had almost completely come to a stop.
Terminology: Token Economy System, Reinforce, Punish, Negitive Behvaiors, Positive Behaviors, Emit, Consequence, Rewards
http://meyouhealth.com/daily-challenge/
I have actually been partaking in a certain token economy. The website I listed above is a token economy, which is trying to help individuals better their lives by doing a daily challenge. This is an example of a token economy because once you join this site you are asked to emit these different behaviors every day and the consequences to doing these behaviors then you receive coins in return. You get 1 token for every 100 coins that you get. Once you have 25 tokens than you can open up different challenges like some are for strengthening your back, simple yoga, better eating, etc. This website can also be considered a positive reinforcement because they are adding these tokens to your total so that you will keep emitting these new behaviors in hopes that you will continue to do them. You aren’t punished for not participating one day, but you don’t receive any coins. Instead to try to motivate you to participate multiple days in a row they give you more coins depending on how many you can do in a row. For example on the first day you get 150 coins for completing the challenge and then if you complete the second day’s challenge then you receive 200 coins. So there isn’t anything aversive about this website. Every day is a different target behavior which is interesting, and if you choose to pass a certain challenge you can say why because some of the challenges are things that you are unable to do or don’t pertain to you.
In this token economy the delivery system is all based on the computer. Every time you elicit a behavior than you are rewarded right away with coins. There are other ways of gaining coins. You can smile at other people’s progress up to five times a day, and you are also rewarded for commenting on other people’s progress and supporting them. So far I am really enjoying it.
This token economy is easy to catch on to, which is nice because if it was difficult to understand than I don’t think many people would stay with it. Also this token economy can be on your phones and they will send you a text message saying what the daily challenge is. I think that this token economy is very effective because the tokens can’t be lost or stolen, you are rewarded right away with coins, and yet you still have to work towards the greater goals of opening up new challenges. This token economy is definitely for at least high school and up people because of some of the things they ask you. I would actually mainly suggest it to college level and up, but I think that some high school students could benefit from this website if they really wanted to.
Terms: token economy, emit, behaviors, positive reinforcement, punished, emitting, rewards, consequences, elicit, target behavior, aversive, benefit, effective, delivery system, motivate,
http://www.bookitprogram.com/ourstory/ourprogram.asp
Pizza Hut Book It.
For over 27 years now Pizza Hut has had a reading program in place that rewards students for reading. In this token economy kids are given a reading goal set by the teacher, based on the students abilities. in consequence,once a child reaches their goal they are given a certificate which can then be turned in at Pizza Hut to receive a free one topping personal size pizza. I remember doing this when I was younger and being really excited to go and get my pizza once I got my reading done. The program aims to get children to emit the behavior of learning more often. They want to teach children to love learning and they do that by providing free pizza. The target behavior of the program is the amount of minutes and pages set by the teacher for the student.
The token given to students is the certificate. It is easily distributed and easy to store. The certificates are cheap and easy to make. Some down sides are that if lost they certificate won't be replaced. Also they are easily damaged and stolen. Kids should be encouraged to take them home and have their parents take good care of them. The back up reinforcer in this situation is getting a free pizza. This is good if the kid likes pizza. It is not costing the school anything and comes at a small price to pizza hut but it is good philanthropy for them. I know for me that it worked because I enjoyed pizza. Since a reasonable goal is set by the teacher it is dependent on the student how often they get pizza. It is set up to be individualized so that each child has an equal opportunity to receive their reward.
What is good about this reward system is that it is flexible. Obviously kids do not all read at the same level. The amounts and times are adjusted by their teacher and as they increase in reading skill it becomes harder to achieve their pizza certificate. It even works for kids who can't read quite yet, they can get points for reading with their parents or listening.
The tracking in this token economy is done by the teacher. The teacher keeps track of how many pages and minutes the child is reading. The child will have to give reports to the teacher about reading at home and how many pages they did. This is a good system because kids are not necessarily good at keeping track and this makes the system more honest. The down side is that there is no way to know if the child is actually doing the reading at home or not, they are on the honor system.
I think that the program can be improved better by explaining the program better to kids and parents to help them better understand the purpose of the tokens. Some downsides may be that a child can't get to exchange their certificate for the reward because their parents won't take them to pizza hut. The program rests on the motivation for pizza and if a kid can't have pizza there is no motivation to read. I think that it could be improved if there were more options than just pizza, such as something they could claim at school. Also with all the new healthy kids act and such it might be a good idea to incorporate a healthy choice as well.
Overall I think the program is a good idea. It is simple for the kids to understand. Read and get pizza. It encourages kids to take an interest in reading. It has been in place for many years and I know that for me it worked as a way to elicit my reading behaviors. I hope that schools continue to use Book It and promote their students reading.
Terms: emit, token economy, reinforcer, rewards, consequence, target behavior, elicit, behavior
Token Economy
The token economy I thought of and looked up was the McDonald’s monopoly game. In this game a McDonald’s customer would get a little sticker on his order, whether that be on his drink or his large order of fries. This would be the token. In order to get the reinforcement however, he would then have to emit the behavior of going online to see the prize he won. Clearly McDonald’s goal is trying to elicit the target behavior of the customers buying more items/meals from the store.
The reinforcers seem to be effective because they are big rewards that anyone would want. For example the customers could eventually win cash prizes, NHL prizes, a trip to the spa, or even family soccer tickets. The hang up seems to be on if the people actually go on the website to see if they won or if they collect their ticket winnings and actually play. I personally think this is an awful lot of work for just a chance at winning. I also think that this game or token economy only works if people do take the time and want to play the game otherwise the purpose is defeated.
Terms: token economy, token, reinforcement, emit, behavior, goal, elicit, target behavior, reinforcers, effective, prizes
http://www.playatmcd.com/Inactive
The token economy that I found was Kohls cash. I used to work at Kohls and customers would go absolutely crazy over their Kohls Cash. Kohls Cash is a rewards program, by giving customers Kohls Cash coupons for buying items online or in a store. For every fifty dollars the customer spends, they recieve ten dollars Kohls Cash as a reward. This reward program reinforces their customers to come back, which is the ultimate goal, and get items for essentially free, or very cheap. It's very convienent for the customer, because they don't even have to be in the store to recieve their Kohls Cash. If they shop online, their Kohls Cash is simply emailed to them and all they have to do is print it off and bring it with them or they can use the code if they wish to continue shopping online.
The Kohls Cash would than be the token.Reinforcement can be done through shopping online or in the store.The record of the Kohls Cash has to be done by the customer, because there isn't a system to say if the customer emitted the behavior of spending it or not. One consequence of the token is if the customer looses it, there is no way for them to earn their Kohls Cash back. However a pro would be that if the Kohls Cash is stolen, the customer who stole it won't be able to use it because they have to show an ID when presenting the Kohls Cash to the cashier.
In my opinion this token economy is an example of positive reinforcement. The customers of Kohls are being reinforced for shopping(target behavior)there by receiving Kohls Cash a few times throughout the year.
Terms used: postive reinforcement, token economy, emit, consequence, reinforcers, rewards, goal, behavior, target behavior.
http://www.kohlscorporation.com/ecom/windows/Update/KohlsCash/10KohlsCash.html
That is the link- I forgot to inlcude it!
As researched on the internet, Mario Brothers videogames and coin system may be considered a token economy. In New Super Mario Brothers Wii, there are 3 star coins hidden in each level, including regular levels, Castles, Ghost Houses and Airships. The site reports that they are often very difficult to find. Knowing that coins are out there and for the taking may elicit individuals to continue a behavior of playing said game. If a player were to obtain 3 coins in each level, secret levels can be achieved. Read: World 9. Coins are listed in numerical order at the top of the screen so that players may track the number of coins earned. The site also explained that a player must finish a level to get credit for coins earned within that level. This reminded me of sub goals. To get reach a big goal, one may have to go experience other goals first. Token economies promote certain behavior by reinforcing tokens or prizes along the way. Players add them up to receive secondary reinforcers along the way. As a student mentioned in class, an issue with token economies may be that an individual will start to value the token more than the behavioral goal as to which the tokens were given out in the first place. I felt that it was a very relevant point. Behavioral goals are sometimes confounded by coins.
SMW 12.6.12
http://www.gamershell.com/faqs/newsupermariobroswiistarcoinguide/1.1.0/#YHhmVsKv2uwJObhw.99
A colleague of mine is a honorary member of a hotel "honors" membership and I know this because I can often benefit from accomodations with this line of hotels. I like this token economy because I like hotel stays. I like swimming pools and cool showers and hidding out and wandering around and being served and all the good times wow. So I know some folks who stay at these places and get these points and then they can use them toward things and discounts. This is great! ---ebs---
http://hhonors3.hilton.com/en/index.html?WT.srch=1
Token economies can be found everywhere in our society, and they are aimed at getting us to emit certain behaviors. Because token economies are so good at eliciting behaviors they have become common practice in the retail business. EBay itself is not safe from the controversial practices involved in token economies, and the whole purpose is to get you to buy more. When you successfully purchase something on eBay whether in auction or buy now, you earn eBay bucks.
--"The eBay Bucks Rewards Program is designed to reward eBay members for purchasing items on www.ebay.com and www.ebay.ca. If you join, you'll automatically accrue rewards in the form of eBay Bucks based on your qualifying purchases. Upon the completion of each calendar quarter, the eBay Bucks you earned over that 3 month period will be issued to you in the form of an eBay Bucks Certificate. You can use this Certificate to buy more things on eBay!"--
This token economy is one of the best set up systems I have seen, and that is mostly due to the perimeters set by eBay to make sure no one takes advantage of the eBay Bucks system.
In my opinion token economies are innately natural, however people tend to abuse the system, making them negative. I also believe token economies should only be used on specific target behaviors. I would not use a token economy on a child choosing to emit manners because, manners should be reinforcing in themselves, and it is up to the person receiving the manner behavior to emit a reinforcing response. Children should not rely on tokens to emit proper behaviors. So, token economies should not be used on things that should be reinforcing themselves. A good example of a token economy would be participating in class, even though some children might find this self reinforcing, other children less inclined to speak in class might find this to be a necessary motivator, allowing them to emit the behavior in question. Although token economies look good on paper they are usually not used correctly. Token economies should be set up carefully, and with great though on what behavior you are trying to elicit, and if the reinforcer is going to inhibit the behavior in the future.
http://pages.ebay.com/rewards/faq.html
Terms: Emit, Elicit, Reinforce, Token Economy, Response, Self-Reinforcing, Target Behaviors,
I looked for a while on token economies online that weren't like the ones above, and couldn't find one good enough so I figured I'd utilize one that I participate in.
Pablo's Mexican Grill has a token economy in which they give you a punch card. Whenever you buy something, they punch your card. On the tenth punch, you get your food for free. Usually I don't emit a behavior of participating in these things because elicit a behavior of forgetting my cards, losing the cards or never going back to the places that give these things out. However, I eat at Pablo's all the time. They have the best burritos in the world. I emit a behavior of eating there at least once a week, it's crazy. The free option is a reinforcer that elicits me to go back to Pablo's and purchase more of their food every week.
Terms: Token economy, elicit, emit, behavior, reinforcer
The example of a token economy I picked was the Hilton Honors Program. The target behavior is that thy get as many customers as possible and get them to keep coming back. You earn points by staying at their hotel or restaurants on a list of select restaurants, which is probably because they have some type of partnership with these restaurants. Also when you fly with certain airlines you earn points. So, by emitting this behavior they give you points. You receive a quarterly statement that tell you how many points you have and then you can call in to redeem them. If you have enough points you earn a free night stays at their Hilton branch hotels. When you have your free night you’re eliciting the behavior they want from you. You are also allowed to exchange these points for flier miles too. This is supposed to be a reinforcer that gets you to continue to stay at their hotels and go to their businesses. You are able give your HHonor points to friends and family if you so choose. One thing I thought was really cool was that you can choose to donate money to non-profits through your HHonors and that will help you earn points as well. I felt like the website didn’t go into a lot of detail when it came to the reward system. It didn’t explain how many points you need before you can earn your free nights. This is a system with no consequences or punishment, only positive reinforcement.
Terms: token economy, emitting, eliciting, behavior, reinforce, target behavior, consequences, punishment, positive reinforcement
http://hhonors3.hilton.com/en/earn-use-points/overview/index.html
http://mypanera.panerabread.com/aboutmypanera/faqs/
Panera has a rewards program that is based on a token economy called MyPanera. The program is designed to reward customers for choosing to eat at Panera. Customers have the option to receive a free MyPanera card at any Panera location. Once the card is obtained, customers just need to register their card on Panera's online form. The MyPanera program is simple and effortless because customers do not need to keep track of points, coupons, or punch cards. Just swipe the card and purchases are automatically recorded. The more customers eat at Panera and use their card, the more rewards or reinforcers they get. Some rewards offered by the program include: complimentary bakery-cafe items, exclusive previews and tastings or cooking, baking tips, invitations to special events, recipe books, and more! Including this, knowing when a reinforcer can be received is a surprise! Customers can either check in their account online or ask a cashier the next time they visit a Panera location. However, the reinforcers are not available forever. There is a 60 day expiration period for all rewards. The MyPanera program is an effective token economy because the customers are positively reinforced for eating at any Panera location with the addition of desired goods such as free bakery-cafe items and many more! The rewards system is also easy to use because customers do not have keep track of their points or tokens or worry about losing their punch card. The system is not easily taken advantage of because there are not multiple cards given to a single person. If someone loses their card, they can receive another one after giving the card number to a cashier which is accessible on the My Info page online. I actually have a MyPanera card but still need to activate it.
Terms: Token Economy, Positive Reinforcement, Reinforcers, Tokens, Rewards System, and Desired
As I looked for token economies I realized that I actively participate in a token economy. The Wells Fargo Credit Card has a rewards program that has a unique spin on token economies. The first part is that for every dollar you spend you can earn one point and for certain activities such as spending on gas or going to certain places you can earn more points. Then after your points have accumulated you can go onto their rewards page and instead of just getting money back for points on purchases they have a variety of back up reinforcers such as a gas card or a plane ticket or even merchandise. This works really well because it feels more special because you aren't just using the money to pay off your bill (although you can do that also.) It also encourages more spending through points reinforcement because you are in the mindset that you are earning points to take that trip to Maui or Vietnam or wherever. The target behavior is using the credit card to make purchases particularly at designated places.
This is an example of positive reinforcement as it is the addition of reinforcer that acts to increase the target behavior.
Token Economy, back up reinforcer, reinforcer, reinforcement, target behavior, positive reinforcement
https://www.wellsfargo.com/credit_cards/rewards/
I found an example of a token economy on the Internet. It discusses a system that is used at school for a boy, James, who has autism. In summary, the token economy system that is used for James seems to be pretty simple. His teachers use a point system to help him stay on track and manage his behavior, and then this information gathered each day is sent home so that his parents can follow his progress. James has to earn a certain amount of points per day to get a “treasure chest” reward, which is some kind of inexpensive prize. His rewards include little trinkets from Michael’s craft store and little writing booklets. When it comes to the banking system for this token economy, James has sheets with different tasks and behaviors listed on them that the teacher marks with a smiley face stamp if he emits the desired behavior. By stamping the sheet in front of James, he is able to process that how he behaves is important and it gives him somewhat of a sense of structure.
The site I found this information on was a blog, and it was most likely posted by James’s mother. Based on the readings from this week and from what we have learned so far in class, this token economy system has probably benefitted James in multiple ways. The stamps James receives on his spreadsheet after he emits a desired behavior are used as tokens, and James knows that he must get over a certain number of stamps each day or else he will not get a prize from the treasure chest. This means that he is making connections and modifying his behavior to work in his favor. Something that is smart about this system is that the tokens are banked in a pretty reliable way. The amount of tokens James gets per day for his good behavior are clearly marked with the stamps, which are then sent home to his parents. James’s mother did say that James tried to cheat the system by drawing in his own smiley faces and changing the numbers on the sheet, but doing that does not upset the system because the teachers are still aware of the actual number of tokens he got for the day. James is not able to manipulate or upset the system with little tricks like that.
Another thing that the blog explained was that all of James’s teachers were involved in the system and that they let James in on everything that was happening with his spreadsheet and his points. By doing this, James began to make associations between having good behavior and getting rewarded, or positively reinforced, for doing so. The prizes elicited desirable behavior. Also, the reinforcers were obviously pretty powerful, because they led James in the direction of improving his behavior as time went on. The blog did not state anything about this, but I am sure that as James continues to make progress on his behavior, his teachers will go through a fading process by changing the output of tokens from a continuous schedule to an intermittent schedule of delivery. To keep James’s interest throughout this process, it is important to make sure that the backup reinforcers, or the prizes, are worth continuing his good behavior for and only being reinforced intermittently. Asking for behavior changes with too few tokens as a reward is a problematic thing.
Something that is nice about this specific token economy is that it is set up just for James individually. Therefore, it was totally made up based off of the improvements that James needs to make and the reinforcers that would work to keep James motivated. It is easier for the teachers to make a system that fits one student rather than having to come up with one that fits for the whole class. Another advantage of this daily point system is that the tokens cannot be misused or hoarded. Since the tokens are merely stamps on a paper that start over at zero every single day, James is not able to load up on tokens with the hopes of cashing them all in for one superior prize or do really well on his behavior for a while and then decide to slack off. There is no way that the tokens could be misused because of the fact that the teachers and his parents are well aware of the amount of tokens that James receives each day, so they can never be thwarted. The only problem that I could see happening would be James possibly losing the point sheet on his way home from school. Other than that, it has been hard for me to pick out faults in the system. I think that it is a pretty good program to help James work toward desired behavior.
After Tuesday’s assignment, I was really not a fan of token economies because of the fact that making a system for an entire group of students could do more harm than help. It could cause originally intrinsically motivated students to lose interest in the activity because there is so much extrinsic motivation being forced upon them. Plus, there were many evident ways that the system could be cheated. After doing this assignment, though, I have a newfound respect for certain token economy systems. I totally approve of this one because of the fact that it is individualized in order to fit James’s needs and goals. The prizes were chosen specifically for him for motivational purposes, and hopefully all of this behavior modification will end up working in his favor.
http://james-autism.blogspot.com/2005/10/token-economy.html
Terms: token economy, behavior, reward, banking system, emit, tokens, manipulation, positive reinforcement, elicit, reinforcer, fading, continuous reinforcement schedule, intermittent reinforcement schedule, backup reinforcers, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, motivation, behavior modification
http://www.hy-vee.com/resources/fuel-saver.aspx
The token economy that I chose was the Hy-Vee Fuel Saver card. This program is set up for Hy-vee customers who can save money on gas at three different gas stations. You shop at Hy-Vee and select items each week are worth a certain amount, you swipe your card and the discount price is added to your card. To redeem the discount price you swipe your card before you fuel and the price per gallon is then lowered. The target behaviors are having the customers shop at Hy-Vee and
elicit the behavior to buy the goods and then buy gas at the affiliated gas stations.
This system is based on positive reinforcement, positively reinforcing a customer with cheaper gas. The token economy is based an the amount of money you can save at the pump. The delivery system is a card and the pro of this is it's easy to store and can be replaceable. As far as a con, you might not be able to get the discount if you don't have your card with you. You can save the money up for up to 30 days from the time you purchase the goods. I think a con is that you may emit the behavior of forgetting about the discount. The backup reinforcer is a discounted price per gallon and in this economy it's a great deal.
I have never heard of anything like this before and it was very difficult for me to wrap my brain around why they would give gas away but I love the idea and I can't wait to use it!
Terms: Token economy, target behavior, elicit, positive reinforcement, emit, backup reinforcer
The token economy I've chosen is the Belief Points system used by U.S Cellular. The idea of the belief project (as U.S cellular calls it) was that once you signed up with them you would only ever sign one contract. Then depending on what level of contract you would have you would then recieve a set amount of belief points a month. For my plan, I recieve 200 points a month. You can also earn additional points by referring friends to U.S Cellular or by setting up an auto payment for your bill and a myriad of other ways. Now the backup reinforcers to this are that you can use your accumulated points for accessories or ringtones. Yet the biggest draw is that when you have enough points you can either get a free phone or speed up the time it takes for you to upgrade to a new phone. Now to get the reinforcers you have to save up a large amount of points. For the Galaxy SIII (a popular phone) its roughly 200,000 or so points to get it for free/ a penny. By setting the bar so high for something so appealing they ensure their customers don't become aversive to their plans. They elicit loyalty and in return the customers emit the target behavior of staying with the company so as to be reinforced. The positive of this system is that the tokens are points that are clearly defined and kept track of in a system (and also not a physical thing), so you won't ever have to worry about the consequences of losing some card or having it stolen. This token economy is an example of positive reinforcement. You earn points for simply having a contract with the company and in exchange when you have enough points you can be reinforced with a new phone.
Terms: Token Economy, Positive Reinforce, aversive, Target Behavior, Elicit, Emit, Backup Reinforcers, Reinforcers, Consequence.
oh and the link: http://www.uscellular.com/rewards-program/rewards/earn-and-redeem-points.html
The token economy I have chosen to discuss is the Starbucks Rewards card. Starbucks uses a rewards card to keep customers coming back more often. The more purchases they make at Starbucks, the more things they can get for free. The first deal that comes with the card is getting free refills on beverages when the rewards card is used. When a purchase is made a star is collected on the card. When 30 stars are collected in a period of 12 months you reach the level of a gold card member. After you have reached the level of gold every 12th star equals a free drink or food. I think this is a quality example of a token economy. The company uses a positive reinforcer, which is a star on the card, to keep customers coming back. They use a secondary reinforcer which is where they can trade in the stars for free food and drinks. This positive reinforcer elicits want from the customers, causing them to elicit the behavior of going to going to Starbucks. The pros of this system are that the card is easy to get, and easy to use. It also seems like it is easy to distribute to customers. The cons are that it can be lost, like most token economy reinforcers, it can also be forgotten at home. Some questions I have about this system is I am not sure if you have to get the 12 stars in a month or a year or what. I also am not sure if you have to maintain a certain amount of stars to keep the gold member status. There was not enough information about the longer term things with the card. Nevertheless it seems to be a very good system to keep customers happy.
Terms: reinforcement, target behavior, elicit, emit
http://www.starbucks.com/card/rewards
My example of a token economy is Maurice's Take 10 Cards. The target behavior they are trying to increase is spending more money. For every ten dollars you spend you get 10 points (tokens) added to your card (Reinforcer). They swipe the cards now so that they can keep better track of how many points you have and at the end of the receipt you can read how many points you actually have (Reinforcer). After so many points you get a certain dollar amount off (Backup reinforcers). This is definitely positive reinforcement. With this system Maurice's is eliciting people to emit buying more clothes. I may walk in and have my total ring up to $25 but I will add something to my purchase to make it add up to $30. Because they use the swiping system I don't ever have to worry about the consequences if I lose my card or if it got stolen because it is all in the computer system.
http://www.maurices.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=12749466&sr=1&origkw=punch%20card
Terms: target behavior, tokens, reinforcer, back up reinforcer, positive reinforcement, eliciting, emit, consequences
The website I chose is a sample of a token economy that can be used in a classroom setting. They are trying to increase the target behavior of good classroom behavior. A board is put up and publicly viewable that has a list of all the student's names. Each time the target behavior is seen, they are given one point which is tallied up and totaled by week. A point is given for being in your seat with your materials ready at the beginning of class and for being in your seat during the reading period. 2 points are given or being quiet during the reading lesson. There is a cap of 20 points a week and four points a day. The points can be used on backup reinforcers which consist of school supplies, candy, free time with fun things, books, and other things that hold positive valence to students. It is suggested that the rewards and behaviors be periodically changed and modified to keep things new and interesting. I think that this token economy is sold. The list of rewards is pretty big and it's easily trackable. There is no worry about fraud or counterfeit and the behaviors that are reinforced are easily measured. They are also closed to bias because they are so easily measured.
http://www.isnare.com/?aid=36919&ca=Education
Token Economy, Target Behavior, Backup Reinforcers, Reinforcement, Positive Valence
GameStop has a token economy set up called PowerUp Rewards, which I participate in. There is a regular version and a "pro" version of this token economy. In the pro version, customers pay a small fee to join the program and are given a subscription to Gameinformer Magazine for a year, discounts on products sold at GameStop, and also a silver PowerUp Rewards card instead of the regular black one. Every time members shop at GameStop, whether it be buying a game/accessory or trading something in, they acquire points on their card which build up over time and can be exchanged for various rewards. The rewards are all things that someone who plays video games would be interested in, so they are a fairly effective backup reinforcer.
http://www.poweruprewards.com/
Terms: token economy, backup reinforcer
The website I chose is Priority Club Rewards, which is a loyalty program run by the IHG. Membership of the program is free. Members can earn points by using certain credit card, shopping at certain places, renting cars, flying with airlines, and staying at hotels. They can then redeem points for hotel rooms, airline tickets, or other merchandise. The points for the program do not expire.
The target behavior of the program is staying at their hotels. They use membership points in this token economy. The tokens are not very easily dispensed. People first need to provide contact information to sign up for the program. Then they need to provide membership numbers at transactions, though the staff may be able to look up their numbers if they forget. To counterfeit the tokens is relatively difficult. If the points are redeemed for a hotel room then fake identification documents are needed at check-in. If the points are used to ship a merchandise then there is less identity verification. The tokens are quite safe to use. Unless personal information is stolen or online account access is gained, using the points is a difficult task.
The reinforcers in the program are revised after certain period of time, so the customers can get what they like with their points. Yet the amount of points required to redeem a reward is quite high, so people need to spend a fair amount of money to get enough points for reinforcement. The bank of token is quite safe, so people are more likely to sign up for the program. People can exchange their points online anytime, so the program is more attractive in the information age. There is also a cost to implement the program. The company probably need to print cards or advertising sheets and place them in every hotel room.
Link:
http://www.priorityclub.com/hotels/us/en/global/support/about-priority-club-rewards
Terms: target behavior, token economy, reinforcer, reinforcement
This token economy is the American Eagle Rewards program. There are not like physical tokens one will get besides a card that is swiped every time one shops there. The point of it is that for every dollar spent, one receives a point and once one reaches 100 points, or $100 they receive a 15% off coupon in the mail. As one spends more money at the store they continue to receive higher coupons, it goes as: 200 points-20% off, 350 points-30% off and 500 points 40% off.
As one spends more money it is harder and harder to get to the higher percent off, which is kind of aversive. The target behavior is eliciting people to emit the behavior of spending money in the store. This system is based on reinforcement and there are backup reinforcers as well built into the program. They are that one gets 15% during the month of their birthday, and when one buys 5 bras from the Aerie store they get the 6th one free, so one could buy the most expensive one on the store if they wanted. There are also member only sales and events. I can see the backup reinforcer with the bras could make a person buy more than they need just so they can get a free one.
Also with the points, if one gets close to the next reward then they will just want to spend more to reach the next goal. Some pros of this program are that one doesn’t have to hold onto that much, it’s just a card and if one forgets it they can look it up in the store. One is also able to check their points online. I think it is effective and another reinforcer is if one owns a credit card to the store. Then not only do they get these benefits but sometimes they get more, which is just reinforcing them to spend more money at this store.
Some cons of this program is it’s harder to get the higher up rewards like stated, and this store can be expensive, so people might not want to buy from here as much then maybe other stores. I think they could add more positive reinforcements to the program, like if people are apart of it for so long they get like loyalty points or something so they are reinforced to continuously buy from the store.
https://www.ae.com/web/myaccount/aerewards.jsp
Terms: Token economy, tokens, aversive, target behavior, eliciting, emit, behavior, reinforcement, backup reinforcers, reinforcer, positive,
I found an article that talked about the Buckle Primo Card that is offered to frequent customers at that retail store. It is a token economy because it is on a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement: for every ten dollars spent at the store, you get one punch on the card. And after all the marks on the card get punched, the customer can save ten dollars on any purchase of the store's merchandise. Essentially, there is an ABC format that could apply to both the customers and the employees. For the customers, the antecedent is a Buckle store which elicits a purchasing behavior, and the consequence of purchasing clothing from Buckle is a punch on their Primo card. This is an example of positive reinforcement because by adding the card punches, the customers are compelled to come back and buy more in order to eventually save some money.
Now the employees have a different ABC experience. Their antecedent is Buckle and their emitted behavior is to sell clothing. The consequence that they experience would be making more profit because customers who have the cards are unaware that they will end up buying more than they would've without the cards just to end up 'saving' some money. So, the employees at the store would experience negative reinforcement because they would have to remove more clothing items to ultimately make more money for the company, and they would continue this routine.
There are a lot of smart pros to this token economy. Customers never feel deprived of money because they believe that they are going to be saving a lot. A card is big enough to not cause any hazards to children. By requiring punches, the customers can have a constant visual reminder of the end result, which is genius on Buckle's part. However, there are also some negatives to this system. Since the cards are only made of thick paper, they could get lost, forgotten, or ruined in any number of ways. Also, customers have to spend ten dollars for twenty or thirty punches in order to save ten dollars, which seems pointless since it took two or three hundred dollars just to ultimately save ten. The high number of punches required may be too high because I'm sure there are a lot of people who don't shop enough to feel like it's worth it to keep using the Primo card.
Terminology: token economy, fixed ratio, schedule of reinforcement, antecedent, elicits, behavior, consequence, positive reinforcement, emitted, negative reinforcement, deprived
Website: http://www.mahalo.com/the-buckle-coupons/
This is a token economy from Chase, a banking company. Chase has this Rewards and Cash Back deal where customers are reinforced to emit a certain target behavior. This target behavior is customers using their Ink credit card or ultimate reward points card to shop. For an example, on all Ink Credit cards, if a customer spent about 25 thousand or 50 thousand on their first annual purchase, they will get 5x more points than regular 1 point per dollar spent rewards. The Ink Plus Credit card which will be discussed, it is designed to reinforce customers to shop by the features and rewards incorporated. Those features includes redeeming your points by getting a traveling ticket, gift cards, merchandise, cash back, exclusive experiences at min. 1% value and many more. There is no annual fee for the first year, but then $95 for the following years. There is a payment option for when trying to pay bills and a protection plan.
The pros about this website are customers getting the benefit they desire. Whatever plan or credit card they choose; there is a reward for it. Another pros is, regarding the points distribution, Chase are the ones who keep track of the point so the customers do not have to worry about that. But they have to pay attention to the points to see if it is being entered correctly every time they emit using the Ink Credit card. The cons are that, they are making it impossible for people to get those points. For an example, no one wants to spend 25 thousand a year just to get points. Another is that, the protection plan is not described properly. There is not a definite explanation.
All of these behavior classes are intriguing but are not realistic. I don’t think they are teaching customers effectively of their product. For an example, not everyone will know the 5x more concepts. They might just want to say 5point or 10 points. The backup reinforcements are ways to positively reinforced customers into emitting using their credit card. Customers loose their points when cards are not used constantly. It is intriguing learning about all of these different types of reinforcement that alleviate people in to emitting behaviors that may be a negative reinforcement to them, just because they desire rewards.
Terms used:
Behavior classes, realistic, negative reinforcement, emitting, effectively, token economy, reinforced, emit, target behavior, Ink credit, ultimate reward, Ink Plus Credit, incorporated, intriguing, desire, backup, positive reinforcement
https://creditcards.chase.com/ink-business-credit-cards/rewards/compare-business-cards?CELL=6RRW&MSC=IQ16827956&defaultPanel=marquee_ad_1&jp_cmp=cc/03BRUltimateRewardsExact/sea/na/Chase&UR
Those of you who want some extra help studying up on token economies (If you choose to incorporate it in your final), here's the blog post I made on token economies in Fall 2011. It breaks it down pretty well. If you have any questions, feel free to email me (just type in Mary Schmidt on the UNI e-mail and it should pop up-(mfschmid@uni.edu).
After eliciting the behavior of looking for token economy examples on the internet I found a site that talked about token economies that are effective when working with children who have autism. The website emitted a listing behavior of the multiple effective methods that they used when teaching children with autism. They used blocks as tokens that were used to create towers. When the towers got to a certain height, the child received a prize. They also used pictures that completed a puzzle and play money that could be used to buy reinforcers. The one token economy method used that I found most interesting was one using a punch card. They used it in a situation with a specific autistic child that continually interrupted during group activities.
The summary of the punch card point on which I chose to function is that there is an autistic child that constantly talks and interrupts during group lessons and while the others are talking. To get the child to behave in a desired way of listening and appropriately participating when it’s their turn a punch card is used. While the student is sitting and listening to the teacher they will receive a hole punch in their card for every 10 seconds that they are sitting and listening appropriately. Once they receive 18 punches in a little over 3 minutes time they will receive the reinforcer which is a piece of candy. Once they are reinforced, the teacher will move on to a new activity.
The teacher used extinction to spread out the intervals between punches. Slowly they made the interval longer and the child learned that as long as they continued to be quiet and listen they would get a punch after so much time. (it was a good use of variable reinforcement). Eventually the child would behave appropriately for extremely extended periods of time.
Tokens: a hole punched in the student’s card every 10 seconds
Reinforcer: a piece of candy for every 18 whole punches
Token Value: 1 token = 10 seconds of patient listening without interrupting
Reinforcement Cost: to get the candy reinforcement it cost 18 whole punches or about 3 minutes or listening without interrupting.
Bank: Once 18 punches were achieved, the card was turned into the teacher who gave the punches in exchange for the reinforcer-a piece of candy. The teacher is in a sense the banker.
The rewards can be redeemed at any point during the school day after the correct amounts of tokens have been accumulated.
Advantages: The pros to this token economy are that it works to help the child to act appropriately during group activities. It encourages positive behavior. If there were a case in which extinction would occur and the child did not get rewarded with the token punches for being quiet it is likely that they may try other methods of showing that they are actively listening and behaving as desired. Also, there is instant reinforcement that happens very frequently to help the child focus on the task at hand. The cards and punches are also extremely inexpensive. It is also easy to use the same form of token economy for other actions and behaviors in the student’s life. Essentially, punch cards could be used as tokens for many different types of behavior! Punch cards are also really easy to carry along to different locations and to pull out as a token reward while moving. Giving a punch is similar to giving a star sticker only you don’t have to spend money to buy the stickers.
One con is that this particular punch program is for an autistic child and it is possible that the child may become board of the punches or find them to be less exciting than talking out of turn. They may also decide that they don’t like the candy. A shorter attention span may make a token economy less effective.
To avoid satiation it takes a good amount of punches before the child gets reinforced. Also, the reward is only a small piece of candy so the child will not be overly satisfied after meeting the goal simply one or two times.
Adjustments: An adjustment could be made in the amount of time between punches. I think that it may be difficult to pay attention to the lessons if the student is more interested in paying attention to the punches that they are getting constantly or watching a clock or stop watch.
Terms: elicit, emit, satiation, reinforcer/reinforcement, extinction, variable reinforcement.
This website made it very easy for me as it came right out and talked about token economies. However, it was a great example and I felt it was worth using!
http://www.polyxo.com/visualsupport/tokeneconomies.html
Token economies have proven to be quite successful in working with individuals on the autism spectrum. The specific token economy I found discusses how a parent and her husband use a token economy to pay their son, Mason, to emit positive behaviors at school and at home, and if he can cope through uncomfortable situations.
There are three different types of tokens that Mason can receive if he behaves. White tokens are rewarded for every time that he doesn’t get in trouble for his conduct at school. After receiving 5 white tokens, Mason can exchange them for a back up reinforcement of either $5 or a special lunch of his choice. Red tokens are earned when Mason does chores and things around the house without a bad attitude. The red tokens are worth 25 cents and can be saved and used as internet time, video time, cash, or a few other things. Blue tokens are earned when Mason copes with uncomfortable situations, like getting his nails cut, being made fun of, or going on an unexpected trip to Walmart, for example. Blue tokens are worth 50 cents and can be saved or used in the same manner as the red tokens.
The parents give Mason the tokens when they see him engaging in the appropriate behaviors. They allow Mason to keep track of his own tokens and cash them in when he is ready. If he loses a token, that’s too bad for him. This teaches him some responsibility. The parents don’t really seem too concerned about Mason stealing or making counterfeit tokens. This would probably be more of an issue if a token economy was implemented in environments with more than one child, like schools, or if there are multiple siblings trying to sabotage each other.
The nice thing about a token economy for children with autism is that it offers immediate positive reinforcement for their positive behaviors. Tokens are added when correct behaviors are emitted to increase the frequency that the child will engage in the appropriate behaviors in the future. The reinforcement is something that they can physically see and touch, which is very helpful for children with autism. They are taught delayed gratification as well; tokens must be saved up before they can gain any real, tangible reward for their positive behaviors. This specific token economy is fairly simple and would be easy for any parent to implement, regardless of whether or not their child has autism. The behaviors needed to receive a token are clearly laid out, and the token exchange is fairly simple. Five white tokens are exchanged for food or cash and red/blue tokens are either saved up for free time or exchanged for cash. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of grey area for weaseling around the system.
TERMS: emit, positive reinforcement, delayed gratification, token economy, back up reinforcement, reinforcer
http://www.autismparent2parent.com/token-economy.html
The token economony system is a great tool for the classroom and is typically used for it. But there are other ventures that are using reinforcement of targeted behaviors of customers to increase the frequency of organisms. One of the ones I have noticed as an avid gamer is the use of gamestops "reward" card. This systems uses points every purchase and special offers to promote you to buy games and influence your choices. Customers who buy games collect points, when you collect points you are able to trade them into a variety of rewards such as game cards, games, controllers, etc. This vast token system has been used to increase the frequency of gamers to buy more games and targeted behavior. The antecedent of going to the store is a good reinforcer which is a positive and desirable experience. The best reinforcement is not the continous but one that is interval reinforcement. And for the most part, that is how it is used. I have been a customer for a few years and they have elicted behaviors from me on many occasions. There have been many times when I wanted to buy just one game but the rewards would be better if I got two! This token economy is hard for those who cannot delay gratification. Overall this system is being used efficently and the behavior of the customers is positive. Although I know this is a token economy used to increase the frequency of my purchase with positive reinforcement, I still like the system and believe it is benefical for me.
http://www.poweruprewards.com/Home/FAQ\
terms: antecedent, behavior, consequence, emit, elicit, targeted behavior, delay gratification, reinforcement, desirable, positive, frequency, token economy, organism, continou, interval
There are token economies all around us and we may have always over looked them or just not even put that kind of name with them. I just always thought of them as a rewards program. Normally I relate them with a restaurant, hotel, or clothing store. But in our recent readings it has made a point that you can create your own token economy in the classroom, at your own home, or if you coach any sports team.
The website I chose is Victoria’s Secret Angel Card. Partly, because I just started working there so I also am just really starting to learn about it and understand what it is. The Angel Card is a credit card that is just for Victoria’s Secret and there aren’t any extra fees. So instead of paying with cash or debit you can charge it to your card, you can then either pay it off in store, go home pay it off online, or wait and pay it off later. There is no extra charges. But every time you use your card you get points. $1=1 point, but some months there are double or triple points. If you pay off the in store right after you use it you automatically get double points. When you sign up you also get a little book of offers that is work up to $100 alone and has loads of savings. You get a surprise birthday gift every year and you get access to early information on sales and promotions. Once you reach 250 points you get a $10 reward; and then you are upgraded to Angel VIP. Once you are VIP you get double points on every bra purchase, free samples, and invitation-only access to in-store events.
http://www.victoriassecret.com/angel-card/
The card itself starts out as a reinforcer because when you sign up you get a discount on a purchase and a free book of coupons. Then the tokens would have to be the points that you earn for every dollar that you spend along with. There are more than one type of back up reinforcers though. Not only do you get to cash in with your points but just having the card alone you get free surprises, gifts, samples, and information. This card is loaded up with incentives. They really want you to spend money because the more you spend the more points you earn and the more points you earn the more free things items can receive and coupons you can get, so it uses a positive reinforcement with its points to try to increase the targeted behavior of you shopping and spending money.
Terms: Reinforcer, back-up reinforcer, positive reinforcement, target behavior, token economy.
When I am thinking about Token Economy I immediately thought of Panera. At Panera they have a Panera card called MyPanera. The card is free for everyone and works at any Panera location. Once you receive your MyPanera card you need to register online for the card to work when you purchase something at Panera. I find this card absolutely amazing. They way that this card works is that when you purchase something at Panera they swipe your card. They more times you swipe your card the more rewards you are going to get. You can get free desserts, meals, drinks, breakfast foods. Also you can get some money off of your meal. I think this is a good way for Panera to make more money. It makes me want to eat there more so there is a chance that I can receive a free meal. For every time you are reinforced using your MyPanera card you only have a certain amount of time to use that reinforcer. This token economy is used very effectively because you are only able to use your card once and also if you lose your card you need to give them your number in order to get another card. There can be cons to this program but that would be if you memorized someone else’s number and used their card, which then you would be using that persons rewards. Otherwise I think this is a great way for Panera to get more people to eat at their restaurant.
Terms: Token Economy, reinforced, rewards
Token economies have always been all around us but we haven’t always known them by that name. The way that I normally relate a token economy is to a rewards program. These programs can be used with restaurants, retail, automotive, and even in the classrooms. The token economy/rewards program that I decided to work on today is Pita Pit rewards card. How the card works is for every dollar you spend you get one point. Over time if you have accumulated points you earn your backup reinforce, which is free food from the Pita Pit. With this token economy it uses positive reinforcement because they want to increase your spending habits at their store so that you get more points which then leads to more free food.
Terms:: token economy, positive reinforcement,rewards https://www.mypitapitcard.com/chockstone/card/balances