Behavioral Science Glossary

The Text Revision of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

A teaching methodology that uses prompts and cues to prevent errors during skill acquisition, gradually fading supports...

An environmental event that temporarily alters the effectiveness of a stimulus as reinforcement and the frequency of beh...

Clinical decision-making that integrates research evidence with practitioner expertise and client values.

A therapeutic technique that gradually exposes clients to feared objects or situations to reduce anxiety responses.

A temporary increase in the frequency, intensity, or duration of a behavior when reinforcement is first withdrawn.

Functional Behavior Assessment - a systematic process to determine the purpose or function that a behavior serves for an...

A teaching procedure that begins instruction with the first step of a task sequence and progressively adds subsequent st...

A systematic process to identify the purpose or function that a problem behavior serves for an individual.

An intervention that teaches appropriate communication skills to replace problem behaviors that serve communicative func...

Global Assessment of Functioning score, a numeric scale rating overall psychological, social, and occupational functioni...

A behavioral intervention that teaches individuals to identify triggers for unwanted repetitive behaviors and replace th...

Unusual or atypical behavioral patterns that are specific to an individual and may not follow conventional behavioral pr...

A measure of reliability indicating the degree to which two or more independent observers record the same behavioral dat...

The time interval between presentation of a stimulus and the initiation of a behavioral response.

The predetermined performance standard that must be achieved before advancing to the next phase of instruction or interv...

A quantitative principle stating that the relative rate of responding matches the relative rate of reinforcement across...

A data collection method where behavior is recorded as occurring or not occurring at specific predetermined moments.

A client-centered counseling approach designed to enhance motivation for behavioral change.

A single-subject research methodology that demonstrates experimental control by introducing interventions across differe...

A single-subject research design that reduces repeated measurement by probing skills intermittently across baseline cond...

A learning process where behavior is modified by consequences (reinforcement or punishment).

A behavioral intervention requiring an individual to practice the correct behavior multiple times after exhibiting an in...

A systematic examination of how different values or levels of an intervention variable affect behavior change outcomes.