Educational psychology

Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational treatments, the psychology of teachers, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. Although the terms "educational psychology" and "school psychology" are often used interchangeably, researchers and theorists are likely to be identified as educational psychologists, while practitioners in schools or school-related settings are identified as school psychologists. While educational psychology deals with all types of learning, some psychologists and researchers focus on specific areas such as learning disability, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and mood disorder.

Educational psychology can perhaps be best understood through its relationship with other disciplines. It is informed primarily by psychology, bearing an analogous relationship to that discipline as medicine to biology, and engineering to physics. Educational psychology in turn informs a wide range of specialities within educational studies, including instructional design, educational technology, curriculum development, organizational learning, special education and classroom management. Educational psychology both draws from, and contributes to, cognitive science and the learning sciences. In universities, departments of educational psychology are usually housed within faculties of education.

An abacus provides concrete experiences for learning abstract concepts.

To understand the characteristics of learners in childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age, educational psychology develops and applies theories of human development. Often cast as stages through which people pass as they mature, developmental theories describe changes in mental abilities (cognition), social roles, moral reasoning, and beliefs about the nature of knowledge.

For example, educational psychologists have researched the instructional applicability of Jean Piaget's theory of development, according to which children mature through four stages of cognitive capability. Piaget hypothesized that children are not capable of abstract logical thought until they are older than about 11 years, and therefore younger children need to be taught using concrete objects and examples. Researchers have found that transitions, such as from concrete to abstract logical thought, do not occur at the same time in all domains. A child may be able to think abstractly about mathematics, but remain limited to concrete thought when reasoning about human relationships. Perhaps Piaget's most enduring contribution is his insight that people actively construct their understanding and that learning is a self-regulatory process.

Piaget's proposed a theory of moral development in which children progress from a naive understanding of morality based on behavior and outcomes to a more advanced understanding based on intentions. Piaget's views of moral development were elaborated by Kohlberg into a stage theory of moral development. There is evidence that the moral reasoning described in stage theories are not sufficient to account for moral behavior. For example, other factors such as modeling are required to explain bullying.

Developmental theories are sometimes presented, not as shifts between qualitatively different stages, but as gradual increments on separate dimensions. Development of epistemological beliefs (beliefs about knowledge) have been described in terms gradual changes in people's belief in: certainty and permanence of knowledge, fixedness of ability, and credibility of authorities such as teachers and experts. People develop more sophisticated beliefs about knowledge as they gain in education and maturity (Cano, 2005).

Individual Differences and Disabilities

An example of an item from a cognitive abilities test.

Each person has an individual profile of characteristics, abilities and challenges that results from learning and development. These manifest as individual differences in intelligence, creativity, cognitive style, motivation, and the abilities to concentrate, communicate, and relate to others. The most prevalent disabilities found among school age children are attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disability, dyslexia, and speech disorder. Less common disabilities include mental retardation, autism, hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and blindness.

Although theories of intelligence have been discussed by philosophers since Plato, intelligence testing is an invention of educational psychology, and is coincident with the development of that discipline. Continuing debates about the nature of intelligence revolve on whether intelligence can be characterized by a single factor (Spearman's general intelligence), multiple factors (as in Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence and Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences), or whether it can be measured at all. In practice, standardized instruments such as the Stanford-Binet IQ test are widely used in economically developed countries to identify children in need of individualized educational treatment. Children classified as gifted are often provided with accelerated or enriched programs. Children identified with specific deficits may be provided with education in specific skills such as phonological awareness.

Learning and Cognition

Several perspectives have been established within which the theories used in educational psychology are formed and contested. These include Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Social Cognitivism, and Constructivism. This section summarizes how educational psychology has researched and applied theories within each of these perspectives.

Applied Behavior Analysis

Operant conditioning

Applications of Cognitive Theory

The spaced learning effect, a cognitive phenomenon strongly supported by psychological research, has broad applicability within education (Dempster, 1989). Likewise, mnemonics have been found to benefit both immediate and delayed retention of information (Carney & Levin, 2000).

Social Cognitive Theory

Observational learning

Constructivist Models of Learning

Motivation

Applications in Teaching and Learning

Careers in Educational Psychology

A person is generally considered an Educational Psychologist if he or she has completed a graduate degree in educational psychology or a closely related field. Universities usually establish educational psychology graduate programs in either psychology departments or faculties of education. Psychologists that work in a k-12 school setting are usually trained at either the masters or doctoral (PhD or EdD) level. In addition to conducting assessments, school psychologists provide services such as academic and behavioral intervention, counseling, teacher consultation, and crisis intervention.

Influential Educational Psychologists and Theorists

External links

Educational Psychology Resources by Athabasca University
school-based interventions
WikEd is a MediaWiki by the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
School Psychology on the Web

Sources

Cano, F. (2005). Epistemological beliefs and approaches to learning: Their change through secondary school and their influence on academic performance. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 203-221.

Carney, R. N., & Levin, J. R. (2000). Fading mnemonic memories: Here's looking anew, again! Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 499-508.

Dempster, F. N. (1989). Spacing effects and their implications for theory and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 1, 309-330.

Woolfolk, A. E., Winne, P. H., & Perry, N. E. (2006). Educational Psychology (3rd Canadian ed.). Toronto, Canada: Pearson.

Zimmerman, B. J., & Schunk, D. H. (Eds.)(2003). Educational psychology: A century of contributions. Mahwah, NJ, US: Erlbaum.

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