A travel training travel. Reducing wandering in a residential center for developmentally disabled persons.

The team worked with adults who have severe intellectual disabilities. All lived in a large residential center.

Staff wanted to teach the adults to walk from the center to nearby shops without wandering off the sidewalk.

They used a token system. Each adult got a token for every 30 seconds they stayed on the path. If they stepped off, staff took a token away. Tokens could buy snacks or small prizes later.

Wandering stopped almost at once. By the second day, no one left the path.

The good results held. Three more trips and six monthly checks still showed zero wandering.

The simple plan worked without extra staff or safety gear.

Christian et al. (1997) later added staff rewards to the same setting. They showed that giving staff edibles and praise helps clients learn even more daily skills. The 1984 study proved the token core works; the 1997 study shows you can layer on staff support for bigger gains.

Tracey et al. (1974) tested reward-only versus cost-only token systems in a classroom. Both cut disruptive behavior the same amount. Their data back up the 1984 choice to mix earning tokens with losing them.

Davison et al. (1968) used response cost alone to quiet too much talking. They showed the take-away part works even without tokens. The 1984 paper pairs both ideas—tokens for staying on path, loss for wandering—into one tidy package.

If you run travel training in a group home or day program, copy this two-part token plan. Walk the route, hand out tokens for every half-minute on track, and remove one if the person steps away. You will likely see safe walking in days, not weeks. No extra staff, no fancy tech—just pockets full of plastic chips and a few snack prizes.