What term describes the extent to which a learner continues to perform the target behavior after the intervention responsible for its initial appearance has been terminated?

• A. Restitutional Overcorrection
• B. Response Maintenance
• C. Satiation
• D. Schedule Thinning

Answer: (B)

Response maintenance describes how well a learner keeps performing the target behavior after the intervention that produced it has ended. It focuses on persistence over time once prompts or reinforcement are removed, showing whether the behavior durablely continues in the absence of ongoing support. If the learner still performs the behavior at the same level after the intervention ends, maintenance is high, indicating the behavior has generalizable durability. For example, a student taught to raise a hand to answer questions should continue doing so in class after prompts or reinforcement are faded; that ongoing performance reflects good maintenance.

Restitutitional overcorrection is about a corrective procedure used after misbehavior, not about whether a behavior persists once an intervention ends. Satiation refers to reduced effectiveness of a reinforcer due to repeated exposure, which can affect how much reinforcement motivates behavior during treatment but does not specify persistence after the intervention ends. Schedule thinning involves adjusting how frequently reinforcement is provided during treatment, not the endurance of the behavior once the intervention is terminated.