| a science or branch of learning, as psychology or sociology, that derives its concepts from observation of the behavior of living organisms. |
| behavioral science n. A scientific discipline, such as sociology, anthropology, or psychology, in which the actions and reactions of humans and animals are studied through observational and experimental methods. behavioral scientist n. |
behavioral science  (bĭ-hāv'yə-rəl) Pronunciation Key
Any of various scientific disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology, or psychology, in which the actions and reactions of humans and animals are studied through observational and experimental methods. |
behavioral science
any of various disciplines dealing with the subject of human actions, usually including the fields of sociology, social and cultural anthropology, psychology, and behavioral aspects of biology, economics, geography, law, psychiatry, and political science. The term gained currency in the 1950s in the United States; it is often used synonymously with "social sciences," although some writers distinguish between them. The term behavioral sciences suggests an approach that is more experimental than that connoted by the older term social sciences
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