Abstract
This study tested the relevance to clinical token economies of the overjustification hypothesis that tangible reward interferes with intrinsic interest in target behaviors and causes such behaviors to be less probable following a period of reinforcement than preceding such a period. The study was carried out in an ongoing token economy for chronic psychiatric patients. Alternated over an 8-week period were weeks of token and no-token reward for one of the program's target behaviors, toothbrushing. Two different amounts of token reward were employed in order to examine whether reward magnitude might influence the presence or extent of overjustification effects. Little evidence was found for the presence of overjustification effects in token economies. However, maintenance of toothbrushing was greater in no-token weeks following weeks of low amounts of token reward than in no-token weeks following weeks of higher amounts of reward. The importance of such complex functional relationships is discussed.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bem D. J. Self-perception: An alternative interpretation of cognitive dissonance phenomena. Psychol Rev. 1967 May;74(3):183–200. doi: 10.1037/h0024835. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- FESTINGER L., CARLSMITH J. M. Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. J Abnorm Psychol. 1959 Mar;58(2):203–210. doi: 10.1037/h0041593. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Gentile J. R., Roden A. H., Klein R. D. An analysis-of-variance model for the intrasubject replication design. J Appl Behav Anal. 1972 Summer;5(2):193–198. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1972.5-193. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kagel J. H., Winkler R. C. Behavioral economics: areas of cooperative research between economics and applied behavioral analysis. J Appl Behav Anal. 1972 Fall;5(3):335–342. doi: 10.1901/jaba.1972.5-335. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- O'Leary K. D., Poulos R. W., Devine V. T. Tangible reinforcers: bonuses or bribes? J Consult Clin Psychol. 1972 Feb;38(1):1–8. doi: 10.1037/h0032412. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Winkler R. C. The relevance of economic theory and technology to token reinforcement systems. Behav Res Ther. 1971 May;9(2):81–88. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(71)90064-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]