Table 1.
Summary of reviewed manuscripts
| Maintenance Procedure | Source | Study N | Population | Target Behavior | Maintenance Program | Results | Condition Duration (Weeks) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Follow-Up | TE | |||||||
| Thinning | Butler (1979) | 12 | Female Chronic Schizophrenic Patients | Self-care, work, undesirable behavior | - | Target behaviors maintained during follow-up for less withdrawn patients | N/S | 88 |
| Evans (1976) | 1 | 8.5-year-old female | Trichotillomania | - | No hair pulling occurred during 12-week follow-up | 12 | 14 | |
| Fernandez et al. (1973) | 11 | Psychiatric in-patients | 12 Individual and Group Activities | - | 69.61% improvement maintained during follow-up | 2 | 4 | |
| Fox and Roseen (1977) | 1 | Toddler with Phenylketonuria | Medication Adherence | Adherence exceeded treatment levels during follow-up | 26 & 52 | 3 | ||
| Kuypers et al. (1968) | 6 | Grade school children | Appropriate and inappropriate classroom behavior | - | Results did not maintain (token economy was not effective) | 2 | 2.4 | |
| McGinnis et al. (1999) | 2 | Middle School Boys | Classroom Work Pages | - | Results maintained during follow-up for one participant | 2 Sessions | 10 Sessions | |
| Mottram et al. (2002) | 3 | 7-year-old General Education Students | Disruptive Behavior | - | Percentage of disruptive behaviors maintained below levels observed during intervention | 3 | 6 | |
| Musser et al. (2001) | 3 | Children with social and behavioral disorders | Disruptive Behavior | - | Results maintained during follow-up for all participants | 2 | 2 | |
| Nay and Legum, L. (1976) | 11 | Special Education Middle School Students | Out of Seat and inappropriate verbal behavior | - | Target behaviors maintained at treatment levels during follow-up | 2 | N/S | |
| Nilsson (1976) | 5 | Children | Encopresis | - | Results maintained during follow-up for three participants | 52 | .86 | |
| Fading | Carton and Schweitzer (1996) | 1 | Child undergoing hemodialysis | Compliance | - | Results maintained in follow-up with minimal regression in compliance | 12 & 18 | 9 Sessions |
| Sullivan and O'Leary (1990) | 10 | Children with academic and behavior problems | Off-task behavior | - | Half of the participants maintained treatment gains during follow-up | 1.9 | 1.14 | |
| Natural Environment/Alternative Reinforcers | Chadwick and Day (1971) | 30 | Underachieving minority students | Academic achievement | All procedures terminated except social praise | Results maintained during follow-up for two of three target behaviors | 2 | 6 |
| Elliott et al. (1979) | 18 | Institutionalized Males | Appearance, recreational activities, social interaction | Social Reinforcement | Social reinforcement group-maintained treatment gains | 8 | 24 | |
| Fuoco et al. (1988) | 24 | Residential psychiatric patients | Bedroom preparation | Self-monitoring | Results maintained during follow-up | 1 | 1 | |
| Reisinger (1972) | 1 | Anxiety-depressive female | Crying/smiling | Fading - compared tokens + social reinforcement vs social reinforcement only | No hospitalizations or further treatment referrals after discharge | 4 | 6 | |
| Shogren et al. (2011) | 2 | Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder | Appropriate classroom behavior | Self-monitoring | Results maintained at treatment levels during maintenance condition | 8 | 5 Sessions | |
| Combination of Maintenance Strategies | Aho (1978) | 252 | 7th & 8th Grade Students | Disruptive Behavior | Thinning + Social Reinforcement | Statistically significant decrease in disruptions maintained during follow-up vs control | N/S | N/S |
| Barker et al. (1978) | 10 | Children with Developmental Disabilities | Daily Living Skills | Thinning + Social Reinforcement | Results maintained in follow-up with minimal deterioration in performance | 16 | 3 | |
| Campbell and Willis (1978) | 32 | Fifth-grade students | Fluency, flexibility, and elaboration in essay writing | Fading + Social Reinforcement | Results maintained during follow-up for two of three target behaviors | .57 | 3 | |
| Cohen et al. (1979) | 1 | 14-year-old boy with behavioral and learning disorders | Completing long division, on task behavior | Fading + self-monitoring | Maintenance during fading phase, decrease to 70% on task rate and 80% accuracy during self-recording phase | .86 | 1.7 | |
| Hanel and Martin (1980) | 8 | Males with Intellectual Disabilities | Work Productivity | Self-administered Tokens + Goal Setting | Maintenance for four of six participants who were evaluated for maintenance | 10–20 Sessions | 28 | |
| Hislop et al. (1973) | 10 | Children diagnosed “functionally retarded” | Appropriate classroom and academic behaviors | - | Improvements in target behavior during follow-up exceeded treatment phase | 26 | 16 | |
| Jones and Kazdin (1975) | 4 | Children with developmental disabilities | Repetitive body movements | Teacher/peer praise + thinning | Low levels of inappropriate motor movements maintained during follow-up periods | 12 | 2.1 | |
| Kazdin and Polster (1973) | 2 | Adult males with developmental disabilities | Work productivity/social skills | Thinning (Intermittent Reinforcement) + Teacher Praise | Maintenance in performance for participant in intermittent reinforcement condition | 5 | 5 | |
| Mendham and Thorne (1984) | 46 | Maladjusted boys | Maturity and participation | Thinning + Self-monitoring (the latter received by only two participants) | Individual data per level not provided. General success in moving through the levels of the program and reduction of problem behavior | N/S | N/S | |
| Miller and Dermer (1979) | 25 | Patients with Schizophrenia | Social & daily living skills | Thinning + Social Reinforcement | Maintenance during follow-up | 120 | N/S | |
| Novak and Hammond (1983) | 28 | Fourth grade classroom | Reading problem solving | Self-monitoring + descriptive praise | Self-monitoring and descriptive praise together maintained performance after token removal | 1.9 | 1.9 | |
| Rosenstein and Price (1994) | 1 | Male with Schizophrenia | Maladaptive Eating | Fading + Thinning + Praise | Pacing tape readministered without tokens due to increased eating speed; improvements maintained after tape discontinued | 4 | 2 | |
| Turkewitz et al. (1975) | 8 | Children with disruptive behavior | Disruptive Behavior | Fading + Self-monitoring | Disruptive behavior maintained at low rates during | .71 | 1.71 | |
| Walker and Buckley (1972) | 48 | Grade school children | Academic achievement | Peer support, equating stimulus conditions, teacher training | Overall maintenance of target behavior. Peer programming and equating stimulus conditions had significantly greater maintenance than control group. | 8 | 8 | |
| Walker et al. (1976); Experiment 1 | 5 | Elementary school children | Appropriate classroom behavior | Fading + Social Praise | Results maintained with minimal deterioration in appropriate behavior | 1.43 | 2 | |
| Wood and Flynn (1978) | 6 | Pre-delinquent youths | Room cleaning | Fading + Self-Monitoring | Results better maintained after Self-monitoring conditions than external token conditions | 3.14 | 2.71 | |
| Token Economy Not Entirely Removed | Frederiksen and Frederiksen (1975) | 14 | Developmental Disabilities | On-task and disruptive behavior | Self-administered tokens | Target behaviors did not deteriorate with self-administered tokens. | 8 | 3 |
| Hersen et al. (1972) | 27 | Adults in Psychiatric Hospital | Work task completion, hygiene | Thinning | Productivity increased during thinning conditions | N/S | 1.71 | |
| Phillips et al. (1971); Experiment II | 6 | Pre-delinquent youths | Room cleaning | Fading | Results maintained across fading contingencies | 24 | 1.86 | |
| Santogrossi et al. (1973) | 9 | Emotionally Disturbed Children | Disruptive Behavior | Self-administered tokens | Disruptive behavior returned to baseline levels during self-administration phases; large discrepancy between self-ratings and actual display of disruptive behavior | 1.9 | 3.14 | |