We compared the effects of a token economy intervention that either did
or did not include the perseverative interests of a 7-year-old boy with autism. An
alternating treatment design revealed that the perseverative interest-based tokens
were more effective at decreasing challenging behavior and increasing on-task
behavior than tokens absent the perseverative interest during an early literacy
activity. The beneficial effects were then replicated in the child’s classroom. The
results suggest that perseverative interest-based tokens might enhance the effectiveness
of interventions based on token economies.