Behavioral economic analysis of pigeons' token accumulation and reinforcer demand in a laboratory‐based token economy
Token economies act like real markets: raise the price, and buying drops—pigeons prove the rule.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Wan and colleagues built a pigeon token economy. Birds pecked one key to earn tokens, then pecked a second key to trade tokens for food.
The team raised the work needed per token or the work needed to open the “store.” They watched how many tokens birds saved and how much food they bought.
What they found
When the cost went up, birds saved fewer tokens and bought less food. Demand curves looked like human shoppers facing higher prices.
Token saving and food buying changed in orderly, predictable ways. The pigeon lab acted like a tiny economy.
How this fits with other research
Davis et al. (1972) first said token economies could be mini-markets for economists. Wan’s lab test makes that 1972 idea real with hard numbers.
Whitehouse et al. (2014) showed first-graders prefer losing tokens over earning them. Wan’s pigeons also adjusted to “cost” changes, hinting the same economic rules work across species.
Silva et al. (2020) found kids liked token removal better than token gain. Wan’s study adds that higher cost, whether through removal or extra work, always drops demand.
Why it matters
You now have data showing token economies follow economic laws. If a client hoards tokens, raise the exchange cost slightly and saving will drop. If a reinforcer is too popular, increase the token price and use will fall. These pigeon curves give you a roadmap for adjusting classroom or clinic token systems without guessing.
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Count how many tokens each client earns and spends today, then raise the token price of the most-used reinforcer by one token and watch what happens.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
The present study examined pigeons' token accumulation and food reinforcer demand within a token economy using a behavioral economic approach. Six pigeons were exposed to a token reinforcement procedure, in which responses on a token-production key produced tokens. When at least one token was earned, an exchange-production key became simultaneously available, and at this juncture, pigeons chose between earning tokens or producing the exchange period during which accumulated tokens could be exchanged for food reinforcers. Token accumulation was examined as a function of five economically relevant experimental variables: the token-production ratio (labor productivity), exchange-production ratio (transaction costs), token-exchange price, the number of free tokens (nonlabor income), and token-reinforcement magnitude (wage). Results revealed that token accumulation varied systematically with the token-production ratio, the exchange-production ratio, and token-reinforcement magnitude but was less affected by the token-exchange price and the number of free tokens. In addition, consistent with behavioral economic models of demand, overall food consumption decreased consistently under higher response costs regardless of whether the costs were defined in terms of tokens, exchange periods, or food. Collectively, these findings show how token reinforcement systems apply to everyday economic behaviors such as saving, spending, and demand, providing a bridge between reinforcement theory and behavioral economics.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2026 · doi:10.1002/jeab.70095