An analysis of a token economy in stuttering therapy.
Tokens plus delayed auditory feedback and a small fine can cut stuttering in hospitalized adults.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers ran a token economy on a small group of adult stutterers in a psychiatric hospital.
They added two twists: delayed auditory feedback and mild punishment for each stuttered word.
The team tracked speech rate and fluency across treatment and reversal phases.
What they found
Tokens plus the audio delay and small fines cut stuttering and kept speech steady.
When the program stopped, stuttering bounced back; when it returned, fluency improved again.
How this fits with other research
Boren et al. (1970) used the same hospital token system three years earlier on delinquent soldiers.
Both studies show that tokens plus punishment work for very different adult problems.
Tracey et al. (1974) later used tokens and a voice gadget to shape loudness in a teen with ID.
Together the trio shows you can layer simple tech on top of tokens to fine-tune any speech target.
Why it matters
If you work with adults who stutter, you can bolt a token board onto existing speech tools.
Add brief feedback delay and a small response cost for each stutter.
Run an ABAB check to be sure the package, not luck, is driving the smoother speech.
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Join Free →Set a timer for one-second delayed auditory feedback, hand a token for each fluent phrase, and dock one token for every stuttered word; chart the difference across ten-minute blocks.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
A stuttering therapy program in which adult stutterers were hospitalized and treated in small groups (n = 4) under token economy conditions is described. The Token System reinforced reductions and penalized increases in stuttering during conversation. The therapy program was divided into three stages. Initially, subjects were treated by the token system, which was then integrated with a delayed auditory feedback schedule designed to instate and shape a prolonged speech pattern into normal fluent speech. Finally, subjects passed through a speech situation hierarchy while under token control conditions. Experiments conducted in the first two stages of treatment are described. The first-stage experiments examined the design of the token system; the second-stage experiment assessed the effect of a contingent punishment schedule integrated with the delayed auditory feedback procedure in order to shape rate of speaking as well as fluency.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1973 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1973.6-219