Token reinforcement is a type of conditioned reinforcement, and has been shown to be an
effective behavior modification strategy across many different populations (Kazdin, 1978;
Hackenberg, 2009). A token is “an object or symbol that can be exchanged for goods or
services” (Hackenberg, p. 257) and has many benefits, including ease of delivery, immediacy of
reinforcement, the absence of reinforcer satiation, and the availability of choice for the
individual. Tokens themselves have no value originally and only obtain their value through their
pairings with other stimuli. Tokens, therefore, can serve many roles, including as reinforcers,
punishers, eliciting stimuli, or discriminative stimuli (Hackenberg).