"Picture This": Token Economy Systems With or Without Pictures

This study investigates the outcome of using two different types of token economy boards to reduce disruptive behavior and off-task behavior of children ages five to seven, in a self- contained special education setting in a suburban public school. The purpose of using two different types of token economy boards is to find out which token board is more effective in reducing target behaviors. One token board is personalized with a picture of the student and their favorite characters or toys; the other chart is plain with no personalized pictures at all, other than a Board Maker picture of the preferred behavior and a picture of the reward. The sample used for data collection consists of three students, one female and two males, aged 5 to 7, diagnosed with Autism. Data collection included a detailed and accurate count of the disruptive and off-task behaviors that were logged onto data sheets. Data was collected from the student’s arrival in the morning until dismissal time at the end of the school day by having each one-to-one paraprofessional use a clicker counter for each disruptive behavior. The collection of data took place over five consecutive weeks, where the two token economy boards were alternated weekly for each child. The aim for this study is to draw conclusions on which token board provided better results in positive behavior, as well as if a noticeable preference was observed in the student’s reactions to the different token boards. Mixed methods research was used in this investigation, which includes the mixing of qualitative and quantitative data. My hypothesis stated that a higher rate of on-task behavior would occur, with less disruptive behavior, by using a token board with personalized pictures for this age group of children. The conclusions of this investigation show that a higher rate of on-task behavior with less disruptive behaviors occurred from using the plain token economy board for this age group with their current medical diagnosis of autism