Extensions of Reinforcement Techniques to Society

Abstract

As reviewed earlier, token reinforcement has been applied widely across treatment, rehabilitation, and educational settings and with populations whose behaviors often are regarded as deviant or deficient (e.g., psychiatric patients, delinquents, special education students). Treatment and educational applications of reinforcement constitute the vast majority of token programs. However, there have been extensions of reinforcement techniques to various problems of social living that transcend the usual applications. This chapter reviews the extensions of reinforcement techniques, particularly token reinforcement, to socially and environmentally relevant concerns including pollution control and energy conservation, job performance and unemployment, community self-government, racial integration, and military training. Aside from these extensions to specific areas, the design of communities based upon reinforcement also is discussed.