Final answer:
Albert Bandura proposed observational learning, extending beyond the foundational behaviorist focus on stimulus-response relationships as it incorporates the role of cognition in learning. Observational learning is seen as crucial in understanding how individuals learn from the environment apart from direct reinforcement or punishment.
Step-by-step explanation:
Albert Bandura proposed the concept of observational learning, which is a form of learning that occurs through watching others and incorporating their actions and consequences into one's own potential behavior. This contrasts with the earlier forms of learning studied by behaviorists such as Ivan Pavlov's classical conditioning, where a reflex response is conditioned to a new stimulus, and B. F. Skinner's operant conditioning, which focuses on how behavior is affected by its consequences, such as reinforcement and punishment. Unlike the strict behaviorism of Watson and Skinner, Bandura's social learning theory emphasizes the importance of cognitive processes in learning.
Behaviorism as a school of thought dominated experimental psychology for several decades due to its objective methods and especially experimentation. It played a crucial role in establishing psychology as a scientific discipline and has been applied in various settings, including behavior modification in classrooms and cognitive-behavioral therapy. The contributions of behaviorists, however, have been expanded upon and included cognitive considerations, as seen with the work of Edward C. Tolman, whose research suggested latent learning and a cognitive component to the behaviorist perspective.