Educational Psychology Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

Educational psychology is the scientific study of human learning, focusing on cognitive and behavioral perspectives to understand individual differences in intelligence, cognitive development, affect, motivation, self-regulation, and self-concept. The field relies heavily on quantitative methods, including testing and measurement, to enhance educational activities related to instructional design, classroom management, and assessment, which serve to facilitate learning processes in various educational settings across the lifespan. Educational psychology is informed by psychology and neuroscience and informs a wide range of specialties within educational studies. It draws from and contributes to cognitive science and the learning sciences. The study of memory, conceptual processes, and individual differences in conceptualizing new strategies for learning processes in humans is at the heart of educational psychology. The field has seen rapid growth and development as a profession in the last twenty years. Philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau discussed the purpose of education, the training of the body and psycho-motor skills, the formation of good character, and the possibilities and limits of moral education. William James, G. Stanley Hall, and John Dewey were the major figures in educational psychology in the period of 1890-1920. The period is considered the golden era of educational psychology when aspirations of the new discipline rested on the application of the scientific methods of observation and experimentation to educational problems. Alfred Binet published Mental Fatigue in 1898 and introduced the Binet-Simon test, the first intelligence test, and the first to distinguish between "normal children" and those with developmental disabilities. Edward Thorndike supported the scientific movement in education and based teaching practices on empirical evidence and measurement. Thorndike developed the theory of instrumental conditioning or the law of effect. John Dewey had a major influence on the development of progressive education in the United States, believed in an active mind that was able to be educated through observation, problem-solving, and enquiry, and pushed for the creation of practical classes that could be applied outside of a school setting.Educational Psychology: Key Figures and Perspectives

Jean Piaget developed the theory of cognitive development, which stated that intelligence developed in four stages and that learning was constrained by cognitive development.
The number of people receiving a high school and college education increased dramatically from 1920 to 1960, leading to progressive education.
Jerome Bruner integrated Piaget's cognitive approaches into educational psychology, advocating for discovery learning and emphasizing the importance of subject matter and its structure.
Benjamin Bloom developed the taxonomy of educational objectives, which divided objectives into three domains: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor, and is widely used internationally.
Nathaniel Gage edited the book Handbook of Research on Teaching and founded the Stanford Center for Research and Development in Teaching, contributing research on teaching and influencing the education of educational psychologists.
The behavioral perspective uses applied behavior analysis to alter student behavior, while the cognitive perspective views memory structures as crucial to learning and emphasizes problem-solving.
Developmental psychology focuses on cognitive development and individual differences in cognitive processes and abilities.
Constructivism emphasizes the agency and prior experience of the learner and the importance of social and cultural determinants of learning.
The social constructivist paradigm emphasizes the context in which learning occurs and views learning as a process of enculturation.
Lev Vygotsky's work on sociocultural learning and the Zone of Proximal Development influenced the social constructivist paradigm, which views interactions with adults, more capable peers, and cognitive tools as internalized to form mental constructs.
The ZPD characterizes an individual's mental development and defines those functions that have not yet matured but are in the process of maturation.
Prior to the ZPD, the relation between learning and development could be boiled down to three major positions: 1) development always precedes learning, 2) learning and development cannot be separated, and 3) learning always precedes development.Educational Psychology: Theories, Applications, and Methods
Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations.
Educational psychology theories can be categorized into three main groups: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism.
Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of development posits that learning occurs through interactions with others, and that the upper limit of a child's learning potential is determined by the instructional capabilities of the more knowledgeable other (MKO).
Instructional scaffolding, developed by Jerome Bruner, is a concept in which the social or information environment offers supports for learning that are gradually withdrawn as they become internalized.
Jean Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational.
Developmental theories describe changes in mental abilities, social roles, moral reasoning, and beliefs about the nature of knowledge.
Motivation is an internal state that activates, guides, and sustains behavior, and can have several impacting effects on how students learn and behave towards subject matter.
The self-determination theory (SDT) posits inherent growth and development tendencies and emphasizes the degree to which an individual's behavior is self-motivated and self-determined.
Technology is essential to the field of educational psychology, not only for psychologists themselves, but also for students.
Research on classroom management and pedagogy is conducted to guide teaching practice and form a foundation for teacher education programs.
Educational psychologists may work in university settings where they carry out research on the cognitive and social processes of human development, learning, and education, or as consultants in designing and creating educational materials.
Quantitative methods are the predominant mode of inquiry in educational psychology, but qualitative and mixed-methods studies are also common.
Educational psychology relies on a balance of observational, correlational, and experimental study designs.