What term describes how long behavior change lasts after the intervention has concluded?

Maintenance refers to the persistence of behavior change after an intervention has ended. In behavior analysis, it is crucial to evaluate how long a learned behavior continues without ongoing reinforcement or intervention. This term indicates that individuals can continue to exhibit the desired behavior even when the conditions that initially supported the change, such as prompts or rewards, are no longer present.

In practical settings, maintenance suggests that the strategies used during the intervention were effective enough to instill lasting changes in behavior, allowing individuals to apply what they learned in various situations over time. For example, if a child learned to communicate needs using a specific behavior during therapy, maintenance would assess whether that child continues to use that communication strategy after the therapy sessions have stopped.

Generalization, while related, refers to the ability of the individual to demonstrate the learned behavior across different settings, people, or stimuli. Stimulus control is the concept of how behaviors are influenced by the presence or absence of specific environmental cues. Response inhibition involves the ability to suppress a behavior and is not directly related to the longevity of behavior change following an intervention. Understanding these distinctions helps practitioners focus on the long-term effectiveness of their interventions and the importance of preparing for maintenance in behavior change efforts.