behavioral

especially British, be·hav·iour·al

[bih-heyv-yer-uhl]

adjective

1. relating to a person’s manner of behaving or acting.

   The program provides academic and behavioral supports for students of concern.

   Most of our biggest health risks are largely preventable with behavioral change.

2. Psychology, Animal Behavior.,  relating to or studying observable activity in a human or animal, often thought of as the aggregate of responses to external and internal stimuli.

   This psychiatry textbook offers a thorough discussion of both the behavioral sciences and clinical psychiatry.

   Harassment of wild marine mammals has disrupted their behavioral patterns, including migration, breeding, and feeding.

Other Word Forms

• behaviorally adverb
• behaviourally adverb
• interbehavioral adjective
• interbehavioural adjective
• interbehaviorally adverb
• interbehaviourally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of behavioral¹

First recorded in 1925–30; behavior ( def. ) + -al ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

There’s ongoing research into drugs that might “enhance cognition or treat challenging behaviors like agitation, depression, hallucinations, and other neuro-psychiatric or behavioral symptoms.”

From Los Angeles Times

He does a daily 10-minute meditation, but it also has loving-kindness meditations, cognitive behavioral therapy.

From Los Angeles Times

What explains this behavioral disconnect on the part of voters?

From Salon

While the Menendez case has become a touchstone in the true-crime genre spawning viral debates about abuse, privilege and punishment, the parole board’s decision rested on prison records and behavioral assessments, not public opinion.

From Salon

At least a third of those incidents involved someone who was experiencing a behavioral crisis, according to a Times analysis of incident reports and interviews with families of the people shot.

From Los Angeles Times