The first type consists of praise, smiles, a sense of accomplishment, those reinforcers that are somewhat social in origin. Again, these are essentially neutral stimuli which have become reinforcing through their association with other more primary reinforcement. The second type of secondary reinforcement is a token economy. A token economy system is one in which a person earns tokens for desirable behaviors. Each token is a step towards acquisition of a primary reinforcer or more reinforcing secondary reinforcement.
Money is the classic example of a token economy system.
I've more on token economy systems in the section on visual supports . Secondary reinforcement has a number of advantages. First, conditioned reinforcers are typically more convenient to use than primary. In that vein, secondary reinforcement typically fits in much better in a natural environment. We all receive encouragement, praise, or tokens throughout our everyday lives.