Applicability of Applications of Psychology with Particular Reference to Schoolroom Learning

Abstract

Educational psychology has been generally regarded as an applied field, applied in the sense that it has depended for its data upon aspects of general theoretical psychology believed to be applicable to the problems of education. The aims and methods of educational psychology have conse quently reflected the content and methods of psychology, the educational psychologist being expected to glean any material from the psychological field that may be adapted to the needs and interests of educators. For his material on schoolroom learning, the educational psychologist has drawn principally upon two types of psychological research: (1) research on ani mals, particularly rats; and (2) research on human subjects (usually adults) in the psychological laboratory. Justification for the use of the results of such research, therefore, rests upon the validity of their application to schoolroom situations.