Relative efficacy of two token economy procedures for decreasing the disruptive classroom behavior of retarded children

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated that disruptive classroom behavior can be decreased by delivering tokens contingent upon periods of time during which children do not engage in it or by removing tokens contingent upon its occurrence. To date, the best controlled of these studies have consistently reported the two procedures to be qually effective. However, in these studies, token the two procedures to be equally effective. However, in these studies, token contingencies have been combined with instructions regarding the contigencies. The present study compared these two procedures when no instructions were given regarding the token contingencies. Token delivery was not effective in decreasing disruptive behavior in any of the children, while a combination of token delivery and removal was effective for three of four children. The results token delivery and removal was effective for three of four children. The results suggest that the combined procedure may be effective with certain populations that are not readily controlled by instructions.