This paper reviews evidence supporting adaptive plasticity in muscle and cutaneous afferent reflex pathways induced by training and rehabilitative interventions. The perspective is advanced that the behavioral and functional relevance of any intervention and the reflex pathway under study should both be considered when evaluating adaptation and transfer. A cornerstone of this concept can be found in acute task-dependent reflex modulation. Since the nervous system allows the expression of a given reflex according to the motor task, an attempt to evaluate the training adaptation should also be evoked under the same conditions as training bearing in mind the functional role of the pathway under study. Within this framework, considerable evidence supports extensive adaptive plasticity in human muscle afferent pathways in the form of operant conditioning, strength training, skill training, and locomotor training/retraining. Directly comparable evidence for chronic adaptation in cutaneous reflex pathways is lacking. However, activity-dependent plasticity in cutaneous pathways is documented in particularly in approaches to neurologic rehabilitation. Overall, the adaptive range for human muscle afferent reflexes appears bidirectional (that is increased or reduced amplitudes) and on the order of 25-50%. The adaptive range for cutaneous pathways is currently uncertain.