Final answer:
Elton Mayo conducted pioneering work at Western Electric's Hawthorne Works, emphasizing the significance of interpersonal relations, motivation, and organizational dynamics, thus contributing to the development of organizational psychology and shifting focus from strict behaviorism to a more holistic understanding of worker behavior.
Step-by-step explanation:
Elton Mayo's work contributed significantly to the field of organizational psychology, moving beyond the traditional focus on employee selection and placement. His research at Western Electric's Hawthorne Works in the late 1920s to early 1930s demonstrated the importance of interpersonal relations, motivation, and organizational dynamics in the workplace.
Mayo's Hawthorne Studies began with an evaluation of physical work conditions, like lighting, but revealed that social and psychological factors had an even greater impact on employee productivity. The studies highlighted the influence of workers' sentiments and the workplace environment on their performance and marked a departure from the pure stimulus-response models of behavior advocated by early behaviorists such as Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner, who focused on observable behaviors and disregarded internal mental states.