MEANING, NATURE AND SCOPE OF

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
MARCH 9, 2012 110 COMMENTS
What is Psychology?
- The word, Psychology is derived from two Greek words, Psyche and Logos. Psyche
means soul and Logos means science. Thus psychology was first defined as the science of
soul.
- According to earlier psychologists, the function of psychology was to study the nature, origin
and destiny of the human soul. But soul is something metaphysical. It cannot be seen, observed
and touched and we cannot make scientific experiments on soul.
- In the 18
th
century, psychology was understood as the Science of Mind. William James (1892)
defined psychology as the science of mental processes. But the word mind is also quite
ambiguous as there was confusion regarding the nature and functions of mind.
- Modern psychologists defined psychology as the Science of Consciousness. James Sully
(1884) defined psychology as the Science of the Inner World. Wilhelm Wundt (1892) defined
psychology as the science which studies the internal experiences. But there are three levels of
consciousness conscious, subconscious and the unconscious and so this definition also was not
accepted by some.
- (Thus psychology first lost its soul, then its mind and then its consciousness). At present only
its behaviour exists. William McDugall (1905) defined psychology as the Science of
Behaviour, W.B. Pillsbury (1911) and J.B. Watson (1912) also defined psychology as the
science of behavior.
- Behaviour generally means overt activities which can observed and measured scientifically.
But ones behaviour is always influenced by his experiences. So when we study ones behaviour
we must also study his experiences.
- Psychology should, therefore, be defined as a science of behaviour and experiences on human
beings (B.F. Skinner)
- According to Crow and Crow, Psychology is the study of human behaviour and human
relationship.

What is Educational Psychology?
- Educational psychology is that branch of psychology in which the findings of psychology are
applied in the field of education. It is the scientific study of human behaviour in educational
setting.
- According to Charles. E. Skinner, Educational psychology deals with the behaviour of human
beings in educational situations.
- Thus educational psychology is a behavioural science with two main references
human behaviour and education. In the words of E.A. Peel, Educational Psychology is the
science of Education.
- Education by all means is an attempt to mould and shape the behaviour of the pupil. It aims to
produce desirable changes in him for the all-round development of his personality.
- The essential knowledge and skill to do this job satisfactorily is supplied by Educational
Psychology. In the words of E.A. Peel, Educational psychology helps the teacher to understand
the development of his pupils, the range and limits of their capacities, the processes by which
they learn and their social relationships.
- (In this way, the work of the Educational Psychologists resembles with that of an Engineer,
who is a technical expert. The Engineer supplies all the knowledge and skill essential for the
accomplishment of the job satisfactorily for example, construction of a bridge.). In the same
way Educational Psychologists, who is a technical expert in the field of Education, supplies all
the information, principles and techniques essential for:
Understanding the behaviour of the pupil in response to educational environment and desired
modification of his behaviour to bring an all-round development of his personality.
- In this way, it is quite reasonable to call Educational Psychology as a science and technology of
Education.
- Thus, Educational Psychology concerned primarily with understanding the processes of
teaching and learning that take place within formal environments and developing ways of
improving those methods. It covers important topics like learning theories; teaching methods;
motivation; cognitive, emotional, and moral development; and parent-child relationships etc.
- In short, it is the scientific discipline that addresses the questions: Why do some students learn
more than others? and What can be done to improve that learning?
NATURE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
- Its nature is scientific as it has been accepted that it is a Science of Education. We can
summarize the nature of Educational Psychology in the following ways:
1. Educational Psychology is a science. (Science is a branch of study concerned with
observation of facts and establishment of verifiable general laws. Science employs certain
objective methods for the collection of data. It has its objectives of understanding, explaining,
predicting and control of facts.) Like any other science, educational psychology has also
developed objective methods of collection of data. It also aims at understanding, predicting and
controlling human behaviour.
2. Educational Psychology is a natural science. An educational psychologist conducts his
investigations, gathers his data and reaches his conclusions in exactly the same manner as
physicist or the biologist.
3. Educational psychology is a social science. Like the sociologist, anthropologist, economist
or political scientist, the educational psychologist studies human beings and their sociability.
4. Educational psychology is a positive science. Normative science like Logic or Ethics deals
with facts as they ought to be. A positive science deals with facts as they are or as they operate.
Educational psychology studies the childs behaviour as it is, not, as it ought to be. So it is a
positive science.
5. Educational psychology is an applied science. It is the application of psychological
principles in the field of education. By applying the principles and techniques of psychology, it
tries to study the behaviour and experiences of the pupils. As a branch of psychology it is parallel
to any other applied psychology. For example, educational psychology draws heavily facts from
such areas as developmental psychology, clinical psychology, abnormal psychology and social
psychology.
6. Educational psychology is a developing or growing science. It is concerned with new and
ever new researches. As research findings accumulate, educational psychologists get better
insight into the childs nature and behaviour.
W.A. Kelly (1941) listed the nature of Educational Psychology as follows:
i. To give a knowledge of the nature of the child
ii. To give understanding of the nature, aims and purposes of education
iii. To give understanding of the scientific methods and procedures which have been used in
arriving at the facts and principles of educational psychology
iv. To present the principles and techniques of learning and teaching
v. To give training in methods of measuring abilities and achievement in school subjects
vi. To give a knowledge of the growth and development of children
vii. To assist in the better adjustment of children and to help them to prevent maladjustment
viii. To study the educational significance and control of emotions and
ix. To give an understanding of the principles and techniques of correct training.
- Thus, educational psychology is an applied, positive, social, specific and practical science.
While general science deals with behaviour of the individuals in various spheres, educational
psychology studies the behaviour of the individual in educational sphere only.
SCOPE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
The scope of educational psychology is ever-growing due to constantly researches in this field.
The following factors will indicate the scope of educational psychology:
1. The Learner. The subject-matter of educational psychology is knitted around the learner.
Therefore, the need of knowing the learner and the techniques of knowing him well. The topics
include the innate abilities and capacities of the individuals, individual differences and their
measurements, the overt, covert, conscious as well as unconscious behaviour of the learner, the
characteristics of his growth and development and each stage beginning from childhood to
adulthood.
2. The Learning Experiences. Educational Psychology helps in deciding what learning
experiences are desirable, at what stage of the growth and development of the learner, so that
these experiences can be acquired with a greater ease and satisfaction.
3. Learning process: After knowing the learner and deciding what learning experiences are to
be provided, Educational Psychology moves on to the laws, principles and theories of learning.
Other items in the learning process are remembering and forgetting, perceiving, concept
formation, thinking and reasoning, problem solving, transfer of learning, ways and means of
effective learning etc.
4. Learning Situation or Environment. Here we deal with the environmental factors and
learning situations which come midway between the learner and the teacher. Topics like
classroom climate and group dynamics, techniques and aids that facilitate learning and
evaluation, techniques and practices, guidance and counselling etc. For the smooth functioning
of the teaching-learning process.
5. The Teacher: The teacher is a potent force is any scheme of teaching and learning process. It
discusses the role of the teacher. It emphasizes the need of knowing thyself for a teacher to
play his role properly in the process of education. His conflicts, motivation. Anxiety, adjustment,
level of aspiration etc. It throws light on the essential personality traits, interests, aptitudes, the
characteristics of effective teaching etc so as to inspire him for becoming a successful teacher.
Though the entire scope of Educational Psychology is included in the above mentioned five key-
factors, it may be further expanded by adding the following:
6. It studies Human Behaviour in educational situations. Psychology is the study of behaviour,
and education deals with the modification of behaviour; hence, educational psychology pervades
the whole field of education.
7. It studies the Growth and Development of the child. How a child passes through the various
stages of growth and what are the characteristics of each stage are included in the study of
educational psychology.
8. To what extent Heredity and Environment contribute towards the growth of the individual,
and how this knowledge can be made use of for bringing about the optimum development of the
child; form a salient feature of the scope of educational psychology.
9. Educational psychology deals with the Nature and Development of the Personality of an
individual. In fact, education has been defined as the all-round development of the personality of
an individual; personality development also implies a well-adjusted personality.
10. It studies Individual Difference: Every individual differs from every other individual. It is
one of the fundamental facts of human nature which have been brought to light by educational
psychology. This one fact has revolutionalised the concept and process of education.
11. It studies the nature Intelligence and its Measurement. This is of utmost importance for a
teacher.
12. It Provides Guidance and Counselling: Education is nothing but providing guidance to the
growing child.
We can conclude by saying that Educational Psychology is narrower in scope than general
psychology. While general psychology deals with the behaviour of the individual in a general
way, educational psychology in concerned with the behaviour of the learner in an educational
setting.