Using a Token System to Increase Compliance and Avoid Satiation during Reinforcer Preference Assessments

<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>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year

2020

Author dc:creator

• Sallade, Samantha

Contributors dc:contributor

• Brian K. Martens

• Social and Behavioral Sciences

Repository record dc:identifier

https://surface.syr.edu/etd/1267

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:surface.syr.edu:etd-2268