The effects of delayed rewards, tokens, and stimulant medication on sportsmanlike behavior with ADHD-diagnosed children.
Tokens delivered right after fair play lift sportsmanlike behavior in ADHD kids when delayed rewards do nothing.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Five kids with ADHD played floor hockey during recess. The researchers wanted more sportsmanlike behavior.
They first tried delayed rewards. Kids got points they could trade later for prizes. Behavior stayed poor.
Then they added tokens and praise right when kids played fair. They used an ABAB reversal design to prove the change worked.
What they found
Tokens plus praise turned the game around. Every child showed big, quick jumps in fair play.
When tokens stopped, sportsmanlike acts dropped. When tokens returned, fair play rose again.
The combo beat delayed rewards alone. Immediate tokens made the difference.
How this fits with other research
Koop et al. (1983) also used tokens in school. They cut stealing by marking a child’s own items and paying tokens for taking only marked things. Both studies show tokens beat problems that praise alone can’t fix.
Dinsmoor (1985) wired a token timer to a TV. Kids earned 30-minute shows with tokens and watched far less. Like the hockey study, immediate tokens controlled behavior when delayed rewards failed.
Gureasko-Moore et al. (2006) tried self-management with ADHD teens. Checklists and self-rating raised class-prep skills. Tokens worked faster for younger kids on the playground, while self-management fit older students in class.
Why it matters
If you run recess or sports groups, don’t wait until the end to pay off. Hand a token and say exactly what was fair right after you see it. Trade tokens for 5-minute free play, stickers, or first pick of equipment. You can fade later once fair play becomes the new normal.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Five children diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder participated in a summer program designed to evaluate behavioral and pharmacological treatments in a recreational setting. The effect of a contingency for increased sportsmanlike behavior, with and without the use of tokens, was examined during kickball games. The influence of stimulant medication was also examined for 3 of the children. A multiple-baseline, reversal design revealed that a delayed reward condition did not increase sportsmanlike behavior, whereas the addition of tokens (and praise) to the delayed reward increased sportsmanlike behavior for all 5 participants. Stimulant medication appeared to have very little influence on sportsmanlike behavior. Future directions for behavioral social skills interventions using a sports skills model are also discussed.
Behavior modification, 2002 · doi:10.1177/0145445502026002002