An Analysis of Token Reinforcement:

The effects of an adjusting, fixed-ratio schedule of token reinforcement on the mean number of legible letters written by special education students were examined in a pretest-posttest design with repeated measures. Data were also collected for the frequency of such behaviors by regular elementary special education students enrolled in the same school to determine if gains would be comparable to those of such a group. Teacher ratings as to legibility of the handwriting were also taken. The overall results indicate significant gains by the token-reinforcement group, with respect to both frequency and rating of legibility. No such improvement was evident in the control group. The importance of taking normative data for mainstreaming and measures of clinical significance is discussed.