Which behavior management technique uses a token economy to reinforce desirable behavior?

• A. Prompt - visual/verbal cue
• B. Modeling - displaying the behavior you would like the child to follow
• C. Contingency contracting - linking behavior to consequences
• D. Token economy - 'money system' such as stamps, stickers, stars, or point cards in trade for a desirable item

Answer: (D)

A token economy is a reinforcement system that uses tokens earned for desirable behaviors and later exchanged for preferred rewards. This approach makes reinforcement tangible and predictable: students see immediate progress (earning tokens) and understand that those tokens can be traded for something they value, which helps strengthen the target behaviors over time.

Why this fits the description well: tokens serve as a secondary reinforcer that can be accumulated and exchanged, providing a clear, motivating structure for behavior change. It also offers flexibility—tokens can be used for individual goals or group-wide objectives, and the system can be adjusted by changing the exchange rates or backup reinforcers to maintain motivation.

In practice, you’d define the behaviors you want to encourage, decide what tokens will be earned for those behaviors, determine how many tokens are needed for each reward, select appealing backup rewards, and (importantly) keep tokens visible and the system consistent. Over time, you can gradually fade the reliance on tokens as the desired behaviors become habitual.

Prompting, modeling, and contingency contracting are different methods: prompting uses cues to elicit a behavior, modeling shows the behavior for imitation, and contingency contracting ties behavior to consequences in a written agreement. The token economy specifically centers on earning and exchanging tokens for rewards, which is why it’s the best fit for this description.