Self-Management Experiment

Can a token economy combined with negative reinforcement increase the consumption of water by a participant, in a self- management experiment using a multiple treatment reversal design? The participant was a normal 41 year old female student, who was experiencing side effects of dehydration. The amount of water consumed by the participant was measured using self- recording and tokens were delivered by a buddy. The mean amount of water drank in baseline condition were 51.7 ml, 8.3 ml and 75 ml, giving an overall mean of 45 ml. The overall mean in all the intervention conditions was 889 ml. This experiment gave the required effect, but only as long as the experiment lasted. In follow up recordings water consumption reached back to nearly baseline levels. Further attempts to try and establish, and maintain the behavior through natural reinforcers are being made.