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Record: 1
Title: Educational Psychology
Source: Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia. 2018, 1p.
Publication Information: World Book, Inc., Chicago.
Subject Terms: Educational Psychology
Document Type: Reference Entry
Full Text Word Count: 1539
Accession Number: ed015200
Database: Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia
Educational Psychology
Educational Psychology, application of scientific method to the study of the behavior of people in
instructional settings. Although the behavior of teachers and students is of greatest interest, educational
psychologists also study the behavior of other groups, such as teacher aides, infants, migrants, and the aged.
The areas covered by educational psychologists inevitably overlap with other areas of psychology, including
child and adolescent development, social psychology, psychological testing, and educational counseling.

Development of the Field

The philosophic, rather than the scientific, method was the main mode for inquiry about learning and the mind
until 1879, when the German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt founded a laboratory in Leipzig devoted to the
scientific study of psychology. Another German psychologist of the time, Hermann Ebbinghaus, developed
techniques for the experimental study of memory and forgetting. Before Ebbinghaus, these higher mental
processes had never been scientifically studied; the importance of this work for the practical world of schooling
was immediately recognized.

At the same time, the American philosopher and psychologist William James started a laboratory at Harvard
University for experimental psychology. James, influenced by Charles Darwin, was interested in how behavior
adapted in different environments. This functional approach to behavioral research led James to study practical
areas of human endeavor, such as education. In 1899 he published Talks to Teachers, in which he discussed
the relation between psychology and teaching.

James’s student Edward Lee Thorndike is usually considered the first educational psychologist. In his book
Educational Psychology (1903), Thorndike claimed to report only scientific and quantifiable research. In 1913–
14 he published three volumes of material containing reports of virtually all the scientific study in psychology
that had relevance to education. Thorndike made major contributions to the study of intelligence and ability
testing, mathematics and reading instruction, and the way learning transfers from one situation to another. In
addition, he developed an important theory of learning that describes how stimuli and responses are
connected.

The field of educational psychology flourished within the progressive movement in education that had begun in
the early 20th century. The Great Depression, however, led psychologists to adopt a more modest position
about their potential for improving education. From the early 1930s until the mid-1940s, empirical research in
educational psychology was conducted by only a few people. Four things changed the outlook of the field
again: World War II, the postwar baby boom, the curricula reform movement, and the growing concern for
disadvantaged children.
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During World War II, psychologists in the armed forces were required to solve practical educational problems.
They learned to predict, for instance, who would make a good pilot or radio repairman; they learned to teach
skills such as aircraft gunnery and cooking quickly. When the war ended, many of these psychologists turned
their attention to testing and instruction in education. Concurrently, as schools were filled by the postwar baby
boom, educational psychologists were needed to design and evaluate instructional materials, training
programs, and tests. By the late 1950s, when the U.S. was carrying on a technological race with the Soviet
Union, efforts to update the American school curriculum were increased. Educational psychologists worked
with leaders in science and mathematics to develop new curricula and new teacher-education programs. Later,
millions of dollars of federal money were allocated to improve the academic performance of disadvantaged
students. Educational psychologists were deeply involved in the design and evaluation of programs to
accomplish this goal.

These societal forces led to rapid growth in the field after 1960. Today, more than 3000 educational
psychologists belong to the American Psychological Association, and almost 5500 members of the American
Educational Research Association are concerned with issues in the field. Most universities now require
preservice teachers to take at least one course in educational psychology. Empirical research is constantly
conducted at the university level and reported in dozens of journals.

Theories in Educational Psychology

Because of the wide diversity in human beings, instructional settings, and fields of study, no general theory has
been formulated that is applicable to all educational psychology. Instead, psychologists work on developing
theories about particular phenomena in learning, motivation, development, teaching, and instruction.

Learning theory
Different theories of learning help educational psychologists understand, predict, and control human behavior.
For example, educational psychologists have worked out mathematical models of learning that predict the
probability of a person’s making a correct response; these mathematical theories are used to design
computerized instruction in reading, mathematics, and second-language learning. To understand a child’s
emotional aversion to school, the respondent (or classical) conditioning theory originated by the Russian
physiologist Ivan Pavlov may be used. Pavlov’s theory describes how stimuli that occur together may come to
evoke similar responses. To inquire about the origins of a child’s disruptive classroom behavior, the operant (or
instrumental) conditioning theory of Thorndike and the American psychologist B. F. Skinner may be applicable.
This theory describes how rewards shape and maintain behavior. School violence and vandalism may be
partially understood through the social-learning theory of the Canadian-American psychologist Albert Bandura
(1925– ), which describes the conditions under which people learn to imitate models. Information-processing
theory is used to understand how people solve problems by analogy and metaphor.

Motivation
Attribution theory describes the role of motivation in a person’s success or failure in school situations. Success
on a test, for instance, could be attributed to luck or hard work; the theory predicts the behavior of students
depending on their responses.

Development
The theory of the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget that intellectual ability is qualitatively different at different
ages and that children need interaction with the environment to gain intellectual competency has influenced all
of education and psychology. This new concept of intelligence affected the design of learning environments for
young children and the development of mathematics and science programs.

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Theory in teaching
The scientific study of teaching is a relatively new development; until the 1950s, little systematic observation
and experimentation took place. The research on teaching has been consistent in its implications for academic
achievement. The variables that educational psychologists have found to be important in classroom teaching
include the time teachers allocate to instruction, the amount of content they cover, the percent of time that
students are engaged in learning, the congruence between what is taught and what is tested, and the ability of
the teacher to give clear directions, provide feedback, hold students accountable for their behavior, and create
a warm, democratic atmosphere for learning.

Instructional theory
The American educator Robert Gagné (1916– ) developed a hierarchical theory that some types of learning
are prerequisites to other kinds of learning. His research has been fruitfully used in determining the sequence
of instruction.

Applications
In schools, educational psychology has been applied recently to creating a system of instruction known as
mastery learning, which is based on the belief that most students can achieve high grades if certain
procedures are followed: (1) The curriculum is broken down into logically sequenced units of about two weeks’
duration; (2) the students pass a test at the end of each unit of learning before proceeding to the next unit; (3)
alternate forms of instruction and tests are available so that students can do remedial work if they fail the first
time; and (4) students determine for themselves the amount of time they need to complete a unit. This form of
instruction is usually successful in courses that stress acquisition of knowledge.

Educational psychologists frequently engage in curriculum research and development. Instructional plans and
test items are designed to match specified objectives. The plans then are tested and, if necessary, redesigned
on the basis of empirical findings. This method has also been used to design instructional television programs
and a wide range of ancillary curriculum materials.

Techniques of educational psychology are used in teacher-training programs. Principles of Behavior

Modification, are applied to a wide set of teaching problems such as reducing the noise level of disorderly
classrooms or increasing the study time of students who daydream.

Educational psychologists have devised in-service teacher-training programs to improve reading and
mathematics instruction in accord with the findings of recent empirical research. These studies demonstrate
that research on teaching can be used to train teachers in ways that will increase student achievement, even in
low-achieving classrooms. See teacher training.

Current Trends
Educational psychologists are becoming increasingly interested in how people receive, interpret, encode,
store, and retrieve information. Attempts to understand the cognitive process have shed light on human
problem solving, memory, and creativity. Because of many new theories about appropriate ways to assess an
individual’s ability and aptitude, educational psychologists are also working in the area of test development.
The educational impact of technological advances such as the microcomputer, for instance, will also be studied
and evaluated during the next few decades. Recent laws in the U.S. that require handicapped, emotionally
disturbed, and learning-disabled children to be taught whenever possible in regular classrooms have extended
the area of empirical study, as new problems occasioned by these changes require new solutions from
educational psychologists (see exceptional children, education of,).

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See also child psychology,; psychological testing,; teaching,. For additional information on historical figures,
see biographies of those whose names are not followed by dates.

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Source: Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia
Accession Number: ed015200

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