Maintenance
Also called: response maintenance, durability
Definition
The continuation of a behavior change after the intervention that produced it has been reduced or withdrawn. It is a form of generalization across time, and it has to be planned for — by thinning reinforcement, by handing the behavior over to naturally occurring reinforcers, and by checking with follow-up probes.
In plain language
A skill still being used after the teaching has stopped. It has to be planned for; it does not happen on its own.
Example
Six months after a hand-washing program ended, probes show the learner still washes their hands after using the toilet.
Not maintenance
A skill that is used only during sessions with the technician who taught it and never with anyone else. That is a generalization problem, not maintenance.
See also
Written from
- stokes-baer-1977
Written from Stokes and Baer (1977). No textbook glossary consulted.
This entry has not yet been through clinical review. Treat it as a draft.