Effect of the token economy system in children cooperative behavior

Abstract

The token economy system was used in a cooperative game to evaluate its effect on cooperation. Public school’s children received tokens and chose to keep or donate them anonymously in an urn. The contents of the collective urn were tripled and distributed equally at the end of the session. Children could choose to “buy” items or save tokens. This system affected cooperative behavior: 60% of participants have adopted a more cooperative strategy than the free-rider, even though individual profiles show an apparent exploration of different strategies. These results indicate ways for application in scholar contexts.