Which term holds that only behaviors likely to produce reinforcement in the person's natural environment should be targeted for change?

• A. Reinforcer
• B. Relevance of Behavior Rule
• C. Reactivity
• D. Rate

Answer: (A)

The idea being tested is that interventions should target behaviors that will be reinforced in the person’s everyday environment. This principle, known as the Relevance of Behavior Rule, means you choose behaviors that will actually matter in real life and are likely to receive natural reinforcement once the teaching ends. When a target behavior is not likely to be reinforced in normal settings, changes may not hold up outside the teaching situation, and skills may fail to generalize. Focusing on socially significant, functional behaviors—like asking for help, communicating needs, or daily living skills—helps ensure the intervention leads to meaningful, durable improvement across settings.

Think of what reinforces the behavior in daily life: a classmate’s praise, a parent’s acknowledgment, or successfully completing a task. Those natural consequences drive maintenance and generalization. In contrast, the term reinforcer describes a stimulus that increases a behavior, but it doesn’t specify which behaviors should be targeted. Reactivity refers to changes in behavior when someone knows they’re being observed, not a selection guideline. Rate is simply how often a behavior occurs, a measurement, not the criterion for selecting targets.