Educational psychology involves the study of how people learn, including topics such as
student outcomes, the instructional process, individual differences in learning, gifted learners,
and learning disabilities. Psychologists who work in this field are interested in how people
learn and retain new information.
This branch of psychology involves not just the learning process of early childhood and
adolescence but includes the social, emotional, and cognitive processes that are involved in
learning throughout the entire lifespan.
The field of educational psychology incorporates a number of other disciplines,
including developmental psychology, behavioral psychology, and cognitive psychology.
Topics of Interest Within Educational Psychology
In today's complex educational system, educational psychologists work with educators,
administrators, teachers, and students to learn more about how to help people learn best. This
often involves finding ways to identify students who may need extra help, developing
programs aimed at helping students who are struggling and even creating new learning
methods.
Some of the different topics that educational psychologists are interested in include:
Educational Technology: Looking at how different types of technology can help
students learn
Instructional Design: Designing learning materials
Special Education: Helping students who may need specialized instruction
Curriculum Development: Creating curriculums can maximize learning
Organizational Learning: Studying how people learn in organizational settings
Gifted Learners: Helping students who are identified as gifted learners
Significant Figures in Educational Psychology
History
Throughout history, a number of figures have played an important role in the development of
educational psychology. Some of these well-known individuals include:
John Locke: An English philosopher who suggested the concept of tabula rasa, or the
idea that the mind is essentially a blank slate at birth that knowledge is then developed
through experience and learning.
William James: An American psychologist who was also known for his series of
lectures titled "Talks to Teachers on Psychology," which focused on how teachers
could help students learn.
Alfred Binet: A French psychologist who developed the first intelligence tests.
John Dewey: An influential American psychologist and educational reformer who
wrote extensively about progressive education and the importance of learning through
doing.
Jean Piaget: A Swiss psychologist who is best-known for his highly influential theory
of cognitive development.
B.F. Skinner: An American behaviorist who introduced the concept of operational
conditioning. His research on reinforcement and punishment continue to play an
important role in education today.
History of Educational Psychology
Educational psychology is a relatively young subfield that has experienced a tremendous
amount of growth in recent years. Psychology did not emerge as a separate science until the
late 1800s, so earlier interest in educational psychology was largely fueled by educational
philosophers.
Many regard philosopher Johann Herbart as the "father" of educational psychology. Herbart
believed that a student's interest in a topic had a tremendous influence on the learning
outcome and believed that teachers should consider this interest along with prior knowledge
when deciding which type of instruction is most appropriate.
Later, psychologist and philosopher William James made significant contributions to the field.
His seminal 1899 text Talks to Teachers on Psychology is considered the first textbook on
educational psychology. Around this same period, French psychologist Alfred Binet was
developing his famous IQ tests. The tests were originally designed to help the French
government identify children who had developmental delays to create special education
programs.
In the United States, John Dewey had a significant influence on education. Dewey's ideas
were progressive, and he believed that school should focus on students rather than on
subjects. He advocated active learning and believed that hands-on experience was an
important part of the learning process.
More recently, educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom developed an important taxonomy
designed to categorize, and describe different educational objectives. The three top-level
domains he described were cognitive, effective, and psychomotor learning objectives.
Major Perspectives in Educational Psychology
As with other areas of psychology, researchers within educational psychology tend to take on
different perspectives when considering a problem.
The behavioral perspective suggests that all behaviors are learned through
conditioning. Psychologists who take this perspective rely firmly on the principles
of operant conditioning to explain how learning happens. For example, teachers might
give out tokens that can be exchanged for desirable items such as candy and toys to
reward good behavior. While such methods can be useful in some cases, the
behavioral approach has been criticized for failing to account for such things
as attitudes, cognitions, and intrinsic motivations for learning.
The developmental perspective focuses on how children acquire new skills and
knowledge as they develop. Jean Piaget's famous stages of cognitive development are
one example of an important developmental theory looking at how children grow
intellectually. By understanding how children think at different stages of development,
educational psychologists can better understand what children are capable of at each
point of their growth. This can help educators create instructional methods and
materials best aimed at certain age groups.
The cognitive perspective has become much more widespread in recent decades,
mainly because it accounts for how things such as memories, beliefs, emotions, and
motivations contribute to the learning process. Cognitive psychology focuses on
understanding how people think, learn, remember, and process information.
Educational psychologists who take a cognitive perspective are interested in
understanding how kids become motivated to learn, how they remember the things
that they learn, and how they solve problems, among other things.
The constructivist approach is one of the most recent learning theories that focus on
how children actively construct their knowledge of the world. Constructivism tends to
account more for the social and cultural influences that impact how children learn.
This perspective is heavily influenced by the work of psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who
proposed ideas such as the zone of proximal development and instructional
scaffolding.
