Resource mobilization is a major sociological theory in the study of social movements which emerged in the 1970s. It stresses the ability of movement’s members to 1) acquire resources and to 2) mobilize people towards accomplishing the movement’s goals. In contrast to the traditional collective behaviour theory that views social movements as deviant and irrational
Mass mobilization (also known as social mobilization or popular mobilization) refers to mobilization of civilian population as part of contentious politics. Mass mobilization is often used by grassroots-based social movements, including revolutionary movements, but can also become a tool of elites and the state itself. The process usually takes the form of large public gatherings
A frame in social theory consists of a schema of interpretation — that is, a collection of anecdotes and stereotypes—that individuals rely on to understand and respond to events. In simpler terms, people build a series of mental filters through biological and cultural influences. They use these filters to make sense of the world. The
The term new social movements (NSMs) is a theory of social movements that attempts to explain the plethora of new movements that have come up in various western societies roughly since the mid-1960s (i.e. in a post-industrial economy) which are claimed to depart significantly from the conventional social movement paradigm. There are two central claims
Political opportunity theory, sometimes also known as the political process theory or political opportunity structure, is a theory of social movements heavily influenced by political sociology. It argues that success or failure of social movements is primarily affected by political opportunities. Theory Three vital components for movement formation are: Insurgent consciousness. Certain members of
The term “social defence” is used to describe non-military action by a society or social group, particularly in a context of a sustained campaign against outside attack or dictatorial rule – or preparations for such a campaign in the event of external attack or usurpation. There are various near-synonyms, including “non-violent defence”, “civilian defence”, “civilian-based
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the extent of property rights.
The term civil resistance is used by some – alongside the term nonviolent resistance – to describe political action that relies on the use of non-violent methods by civil groups to challenge a particular power, force, policy or regime. Civil resistance operates through appeals to the adversary, pressure and coercion: it can involve systematic attempts
Evolutionary Psychology is sometimes seen not simply as a subdiscipline of psychology but as a metatheoretical framework in which the entire field of psychology can be examined. Darwin’s illustrations of beak variation in the finches of the Galápagos Islands. Natural Selection Evolutionary psychologists consider Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection to be important
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence first developed by Jean Piaget. It is primarily known as a developmental stage theory, but in fact, it deals with the nature of knowledge itself and how humans come gradually to acquire it, construct it, and use it.
Ecological Systems Theory, also called Development in Context or Human Ecology theory, specifies four types of nested environmental systems, with bi-directional influences within and between the systems. Overview Urie Bronfenbrenner is generally regarded as one of the world’s leading scholars in the field of developmental psychology. His Ecological Systems Theory holds that development reflects
An Inuit family is sitting on a log outside their tent. The parents, wearing warm clothing made of animal skins, are engaged in domestic tasks. Between them sits a toddler, also in skin clothes, staring at the camera. On the mother’s back is a baby in a papoose. For infants and toddlers, the “set-goal”
Attention restoration theory (ART) asserts that people can concentrate better after spending time in nature, or even looking at scenes of nature. Natural environments abound with “soft fascinations” which a person can reflect upon in “effortless attention”, such as clouds moving across the sky, leaves rustling in a breeze or water bubbling over rocks in
Attenuation theory is a model of selective attention proposed by Anne Treisman, and can be seen as a revision of Donald Broadbent’s filter model. Treisman proposed attenuation theory as a means to explain how unattended stimuli sometimes came to be processed in a more rigorous manner than what Broadbent’s filter model could account for. As
Mand is a term that B.F. Skinner used to describe a verbal operant in which the response is reinforced by a characteristic consequence and is therefore under the functional control of relevant conditions of deprivation or aversive stimulation. One cannot determine, based on form alone, whether a response is a mand; it is necessary to
Tact is a term that B.F. Skinner used to describe a verbal operant in which a certain response is evoked (or at least strengthened) by a particular object or event, or property of an object or event. More generally, the tact is verbal contact with the physical world. Chapter Five of Skinner’s Verbal Behavior discusses
Autoclitics are verbal responses that modify the effect on the listener of the primary operants that comprise B.F. Skinner’s classification of Verbal Behavior. Autoclitics An autoclitic is a verbal behavior that modifies the functions of other verbal behaviors. For example, “I think it is raining” possesses the autoclitic “I think,” which moderates the strength
Universal grammar is a theory in linguistics that suggests that there are properties that all possible natural human languages have. Usually credited to Noam Chomsky, the theory suggests that some rules of grammar are hard-wired into the brain, and manifest without being taught. There is still much argument whether there is such a thing and
The Language Acquisition Device (LAD) is a postulated “organ” of the brain that is supposed to function as a congenital device for learning symbolic language (i.e., language acquisition). First proposed by Noam Chomsky, the LAD concept is an instinctive mental capacity which enables an infant to acquire and produce language. It is component of the
In theoretical linguistics, generative grammar refers to a particular approach to the study of syntax. A generative grammar of a language attempts to give a set of rules that will correctly predict which combinations of words will form grammatical sentences. In most approaches to generative grammar, the rules will also predict the morphology of a
Within the field of computer science, specifically in the area of formal languages, the Chomsky hierarchy (occasionally referred to as Chomsky–Schützenberger hierarchy) is a containment hierarchy of classes of formal grammars. This hierarchy of grammars was described by Noam Chomsky in 1956. It is also named after Marcel-Paul Schützenberger who played a crucial role in
Principles and parameters is a framework within generative linguistics in which the syntax of a natural language is described in accordance with general principles (i.e. abstract rules or grammars) and specific parameters (i.e. markers, switches) that for particular languages are either turned on or off. For example, the distinction between whether a language is head-initial
In linguistics, the Minimalist Program (MP) is a major line of inquiry that has been developing inside Generative Grammar since the early nineties. It started with a 1993 paper by Noam Chomsky. Chomsky presents MP as a program, not as a theory, following Imre Lakatos’s distinction. The MP seeks to be a mode of inquiry
The critical period hypothesis is the subject of a long-standing debate in linguistics and language acquisition over the extent to which the ability to acquire language is biologically linked to age. The hypothesis claims that there is an ideal ‘window’ of time to acquire language in a linguistically rich environment, after which further language acquisition