Preference assessments are commonly administered to identify potential reinforcers for use in behavioral interventions. This study examined the effectiveness of a token intervention for increasing compliance during paired-stimulus preference assessments. Three male preschool children with hypothesized tangible-motivated problem behavior participated. For Experiment 1, an ABAB reversal design was used to evaluate the effects of tokens on students’ compliance and problem behaviors. Experiment 2 used a concurrent-operants design to compare children’s choice of concurrent VI-15s schedules of token delivery and exchange at the end of each session versus immediate access to a highly-preferred item. Results demonstrated that two of the three children exhibited an increase in compliance with item surrendering during the token intervention phases compared to baseline. Only one participant demonstrated a preference for tokens over access to their highest preferred item. Implications of the study on the increase in compliance using generalized conditioned reinforcers are discussed.
","abstract_html":"<p>Preference assessments are commonly administered to identify potential reinforcers for use in behavioral interventions. This study examined the effectiveness of a token intervention for increasing compliance during paired-stimulus preference assessments. Three male preschool children with hypothesized tangible-motivated problem behavior participated. For Experiment 1, an ABAB reversal design was used to evaluate the effects of tokens on students’ compliance and problem behaviors. Experiment 2 used a concurrent-operants design to compare children’s choice of concurrent VI-15s schedules of token delivery and exchange at the end of each session versus immediate access to a highly-preferred item. Results demonstrated that two of the three children exhibited an increase in compliance with item surrendering during the token intervention phases compared to baseline. Only one participant demonstrated a preference for tokens over access to their highest preferred item. Implications of the study on the increase in compliance using generalized conditioned reinforcers are discussed.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Sallade, Samantha"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Brian K. Martens"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-08-23T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-08-23T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:55:57Z","subjects":["Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://surface.syr.edu/etd/1267","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Brian K. Martens"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Sallade, Samantha"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social and Behavioral Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://surface.syr.edu/etd/1267"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Preference assessments are commonly administered to identify potential reinforcers for use in behavioral interventions. This study examined the effectiveness of a token intervention for increasing compliance during paired-stimulus preference assessments. Three male preschool children with hypothesized tangible-motivated problem behavior participated. For Experiment 1, an ABAB reversal design was used to evaluate the effects of tokens on students’ compliance and problem behaviors. Experiment 2 used a concurrent-operants design to compare children’s choice of concurrent VI-15s schedules of token delivery and exchange at the end of each session versus immediate access to a highly-preferred item. Results demonstrated that two of the three children exhibited an increase in compliance with item surrendering during the token intervention phases compared to baseline. Only one participant demonstrated a preference for tokens over access to their highest preferred item. Implications of the study on the increase in compliance using generalized conditioned reinforcers are discussed.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Using a Token System to Increase Compliance and Avoid Satiation during Reinforcer Preference Assessments"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Brian K. Martens"],"dc:creator":["Sallade, Samantha"],"dc:description.abstract":["Preference assessments are commonly administered to identify potential reinforcers for use in behavioral interventions. This study examined the effectiveness of a token intervention for increasing compliance during paired-stimulus preference assessments. Three male preschool children with hypothesized tangible-motivated problem behavior participated. For Experiment 1, an ABAB reversal design was used to evaluate the effects of tokens on students’ compliance and problem behaviors. Experiment 2 used a concurrent-operants design to compare children’s choice of concurrent VI-15s schedules of token delivery and exchange at the end of each session versus immediate access to a highly-preferred item. Results demonstrated that two of the three children exhibited an increase in compliance with item surrendering during the token intervention phases compared to baseline. Only one participant demonstrated a preference for tokens over access to their highest preferred item. Implications of the study on the increase in compliance using generalized conditioned reinforcers are discussed.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://surface.syr.edu/etd/1267"],"dc:subject":["Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"dc:title":["Using a Token System to Increase Compliance and Avoid Satiation during Reinforcer Preference Assessments"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:55:57Z"}