behavioral

American  

[bih-heyv-yer-uhl] / bɪˈheɪv yər əl /

especially British, behavioural

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.

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Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of behavioral

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

Example Sentences

Initiatives such as the Child Mind Institute's Healthy Brain Network reflect this direction by providing large-scale brain imaging and behavioral data, along with free diagnostic evaluations for families.

From Science Daily • Apr. 9, 2026

Chorpita said the grant will be split into three parts: the psychology department, which will oversee the new minor; the school of social welfare; and child-focused fellowships in the psychiatry and behavioral sciences department.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026

There is a combination of factors at work to explain the shift in gold’s behavioral characteristics.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 2, 2026

They’re running systems borrowed from gambling and behavioral psychology.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

And by that, the district meant the middle school students who got into trouble, almost exclusively for behavioral issues.

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan