Contingency Contracting

A contract should be terminated once the tasks it is intended to support are being accomplished independently and proficiently. If either party is unhappy with a contract, it is at risk of being abandoned before this is achieved and the terms should be renegotiated. Contracts should include both short and long-term goals. Short-term rewards can be provided for completion of smaller portions of the expected performance, and long-term rewards for accumulated success or for reaching stages of achievement. 

DISADVANTAGES OF CONTINGENCY CONTRACTS: 

1. Contracts cannot be used with individuals who do not have the requisite cognitive skills. 
2. An imbalance of authority may compromise the contractee's sense of ownership. 
3. Research does not exist to support contingency contracts over imposed contingencies.

The reward needs to be an appropriate quality and quantity for the size of the specified task. For example, a trip to the park may be a suitable reward for completing the day's chores, and a new video game might be offered as a reward for completing chores at least four days per week for a month. When the reward will be delivered needs to be specified. 

Contingency contracts are not necessarily useful in teaching new behavior, but they can be used to increase participation in programs designed to do so. Although they specify that other people will reinforce behaviors demonstrated by an individual, they can be used to teach self-management skills as they provide a way for the contingency manager to reinforce behavior that should happen more independently, such as completing chores. 

The three essential components of a contingency contract are a description of the task, a description of the reward, and the task record. 

ADVANTAGES OF CONTINGENCY CONTRACTS: 

1. One is more likely to follow a contract if they've had part in creating it.
2. The contractee is likely to negotiate a less aversive consequence. 
3. The contract often has a provision for renegotiating the terms. 
4. A contract makes the contingencies explicit. 
5. A contract structures the relationship among the parties (i.e., defines the roles and required actions of the participants). 
6. Contracts increase the likelihood that reinforcement will actually be delivered.