Token Economics: What, Why, and Where

A study performed on employees at a Zoological facility by Vergason and Gravina(2019) tested how a token economy would affect the correct employee-visitor interaction. The study took place at an accredited zoological facility( by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums) in the southeastern part of the United States. The token economy worked thorough guest delivered tokens to employees if the employee displayed a correct “10-5 interaction”. A 10-5 interaction is when a zoo employee makes eye contact from 10 ft (3.05 m) away and verbally greets or acknowledges guests from 5 ft (1.52 m) away. There were approximately 250 employees at the zoo. However, time spent in front of guests was not equal between all employees due to different tasks being performed by the workers. The tokens gained from the 10-5 interactions, could be redeemed for prizes gifted from the management team. Prizes included items like free lunches or money gift cards. This token economy was implemented two separate times at the zoo, recording two separate initial baselines on the amount of correct employee-guest interactions. The results of this study saw increases of 35.3% and 45.0% incorrect employee-guest interactions from each implementation of the economy baselines.

To better understand the token economy example in the Verason and Gravina(2019) example, we have to know what a token economy is. A token economy is similar to a basic reward system. Tokens are given out immediately after the desired response or action taken by the subject(person receiving the token). These tokens can later be exchanged for some sort of reward or backup reinforcer demonstrating the use of conditioned reinforcement. The token economy used in the Verason and Gravina(2019) example is a clear example of operant conditioning and conditioned reinforcement. The desired behavior is rewarded with tokens, in the case of the zoo employees they gained tokens for every 10-5 interactions they took part in. The zoo employees were only really punished, however, through the loss of potential prizes not being capitalized on. Other places that token economies are seen being used are working with children with an intellectual disability and/or autism(Matson & Boisjoli, 2009) and also used inside classroom environments to increase participation(Czekanski & Wolf, 2013)

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The results from the zoo example show a clear increase in desired activity and proves to be an effective way to raise the desired activities' likelihood of happening again. However, there are still downsides to the token economy used in the zoo. There is the variable of guests not handing out a token even if the correct 10-5 interaction had taken place. This could interfere with the conditioning and reinforcement that happens in a token economy and this could lead to a fall in correct employee-guest interactions due to lack of motivation to do the desired work. In my personal opinion, this problem is hard to avoid even under constant supervision. However, a possible fix is to make it mandatory for all guests to fill out a survey about how many employees they talked too before they leave the zoo, and sign a contract saying they will before letting them into the zoo. Perhaps this will limit the amount of missed interactions to a smaller margin.

Overall the use of a token economy to boost employee-guest interaction is a great idea and the study done by Verason and Gravina(2019) proves that statement. After implementing a token economy the desired activity jumped up 35.3% and 45.0% which is a clear indication that the token economy can and will work successfully.


Once again for the smooth brained idiots, if you would like to see the list of references request them below....

VLw

 

[Jellybean463]

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