Case 2: The Case of Mrs. Riley
class of third graders who are very energetic and have tried the patience of
many teachers. In fact, Mrs. Riley is the third teacher to take over the class
this year and it is only November! These students are not only unruly but most
of them did not earn passing marks on their most recent state administered exam
of basic skills. Mrs. Riley thinks these poor scores were due to class time
lost to constant disruption. The major behavior challenges in the class are,
fighting, yelling out answers/questions, not staying seated during work time,
and failure to complete in class assignments. Mrs. Riley contacted an ABA
professional to design some effective behavior modification methods that would
help the children settle down and be able to better focus on learning. The
behaviorist recommended a token economy system in which Mrs. Riley would
contract with the students on desired behaviors. Each student that makes it
through the day without any behavior incidents will get a penny. Friday
afternoons will be “store” time. The students will be able to trade
their pennies in for different prizes. Some will be tangible items such as
pieces of candy. Others will be privileges such as a week without homework.
Students can “spend” their pennies each week or save up to buy bigger
items like a day with early dismissal from school.
1. Discuss the rationale for the behaviorist’s
recommendation of a token economy system to help Mrs. Riley with her class.
2. Explain the six steps in forming a token economy and the
rationale for each step. 3. Discuss the role of tokens and back-up reinforcers
in the token economy system. How does each work to modify behavior? Using the
case study, identify the token and back-up reinforcer.
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