Self-recording and student teacher supervision: variables within a token economy structure.
Token economies lift academic accuracy even when students score themselves or run the system.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Quilitch et al. (1973) set up a token economy in a classroom. Kids earned tokens for correct reading answers.
Students also scored their own work and older pupils ran parts of the system. The team later removed self-scoring and shifted manager roles to see what happened.
What they found
Reading accuracy stayed high while the token system was active. Taking away self-scoring or letting student teachers run the show made almost no difference.
The tokens, not the extra roles, kept the learning gains alive.
How this fits with other research
Schuck et al. (2016) built an iPad app that copies the 1973 plan. Their app added self-monitoring to a token economy in today’s classrooms. The app study found no behavior change, but it only checked if the tool worked, not if tokens improved work.
Dallery et al. (2013) used an online voucher system with adults quitting smoking. Vouchers tripled clean breath samples while they were available, matching the quick boost R et al. saw in reading scores. Both studies show token systems work right away, yet effects can fade when the tokens stop.
Hackenberg (2018) pulls these pieces together. His review says to pick backup prizes, exchange rates, and economic rules with care. The 1973 study is an early example of the rules Hackenberg now recommends.
Why it matters
You can run a token economy without extra staff. Let students track their own work or let peer tutors hand out points; accuracy holds steady. Focus your energy on the token schedule and the prizes, not on who manages the charts. Start simple, then fade adult help as students take over.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A token system was used to attempt to increase the accuracy with which special education students answered questions about reading assignments. In the token system, students recorded their own data, received toy money for accurately completing assignments, and were allowed to spend their toy money at the end of the week for educational activities. The accuracy with which students answered questions was higher when the token system was in effect than when it was not. When student teachers were used to manage the token system and when the self-recording feature of the system was removed, only slight changes in the accuracy of the student performance were obtained.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1973 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1973.6-481