behavioral science

noun

: a branch of science (such as psychology, sociology, or anthropology) that deals primarily with human action and often seeks to generalize about human behavior in society

behavioral scientist noun

Examples of behavioral science in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This study relied on information supplied by family members and didn’t follow participants’ health over time, said Edith Sullivan, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. —Cathy Nelson, Health, 7 May 2025

For three months, David worked with a private investigator and a former F.B.I. behavioral science expert to explore whether Ted could be the Unabomber. —Serge F. Kovaleski, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025

The movement-flow connection also reinforces one of the central findings in behavioral science: context shapes cognition. —Ximena Araya-Fischel, Forbes.com, 19 Apr. 2025

Anyone interested in online data, privacy, and behavioral science. —Alisa Cohn, Forbes, 10 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1937, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for behavioral science

• appliance
• compliance
• defiance
• reliance
• geoscience
• neuroscience
• noncompliance
• pseudoscience

Medical Definition

behavioral science

noun

: a science (as psychology, sociology, or anthropology) that deals with human action and seeks to generalize about human behavior in society

behavioral scientist noun