ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the use of token economies and their range of application. It examines the effectiveness and limitations of token economies. The rules of the token economy require specifying several details about how and when tokens are earned, lost and spent. It is useful to provide the rules in the clearest possible fashion. The token economy has been extended to many different populations in various treatment, rehabilitation and educational settings. The use of group contingencies, consequence sharing, response cost and peer- or self-administered contingencies represent major options for token economies. Token reinforcement programmes depend upon carefully training staff to implement the contingencies correctly. In general, training staff so that they show the requisite behaviours and maintaining these behaviours at a high level constitute important prerequisites for effective token economies. Extensions of token economies to social and medical problems only illustrate rather than exhaust areas of application.
