Which psychologist is credited with the concept of the bell curve?

Francis Galton is credited with the concept of the bell curve, also known as the normal distribution. He was a pioneer in the field of statistics and was one of the first to apply statistical methods to the study of human characteristics and differences. The bell curve represents how certain traits or variables, such as intelligence or height, are distributed in a population, showing that most scores cluster around the average with fewer scores at the extremes. This concept is foundational in many areas of psychology, particularly in psychometrics and the analysis of test scores, reinforcing the idea that while variations exist, many traits tend to fall within a predictable range.

Galton's work emphasized the importance of understanding the distribution of traits, which laid the groundwork for future research in psychology and the broader social sciences. His contributions helped shape the methodology of how data is analyzed in these fields.

The other psychologists listed pursued different avenues; for example, Albert Bandura focused on social learning theory, William Wundt is known as one of the founders of experimental psychology, and Arnold Gesell contributed to developmental psychology, but none directly addressed the concept of the bell curve as Galton did.