Chapter 1:

Introduction to
psychology and
education
Group 1
BSP 21
 INTRODUCTION

The scientific study of the mind and behavior is

called psychology. The study of conscious and
unconscious events, such as emotions and thoughts,
is included in psychology. It is a field of study with a
mainly consist that merges the scientific and social
sciences. Also Psychologists are actively involved in
studying and understanding mental processes, brain
functions, and behavior.
 THE PURPOSE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY
The purpose of psychological study are to; describe,
explain, predict and change behavior

It raised curiosity and seek answer by analyzing the person

situation and condition .

In order to get this done they use Scientific Method -

stating the question, offering a theory and then
constructing rigorous laboratory or field experiments to
test the hypothesis.
Questions like; How soundly do most people sleep?
Do left handed people learn differently from
right handed people?
Do children learn to read better by one method
than by another?

● Discovering facts and hypothesis about the reason for findings

● Learning which hypothesis is right or wrong while conducting
experiments
● Better understanding of the actions of the person
● To predict effectively and efficiently
 How Psychological
Perhaps an example of psychological
research on a single question will tell you
something about the way knowledge
about psychology develops.
● The problem involves research
emphasizing the description and
understanding of a particular
behavior rather than the prediction
or the control of behavior.
● Although prediction and control are
more highly regarded by the
psychologist than description and
understanding, the latter are more
typical of psychological research.
Knowledge Works
First, a simple fact: The moon (or the sun viewed
through dark glasses) looks bigger if it is near the
horizon than if it is overhead. This phenomenon is called
the moon illusion.
● Early studies of the illusion provided insight into
its properties, but only recently through the
experimental work of the late Harvard
psychologist E. G. Boring and his associates, do we
understand the phenomenon reasonably well.
● Explanations for moon illusion has been made
over any centuries before a complete description
was recorded in A.D. 140.
● Ptolemy (15) said of it, O f the celestial bodies
which subtend the same angles between the visual
radii, those appear smaller which are close to the
point right over our head. Those close to the
horizon, on the other hand, appear bigger (in a
different size) and more in accordance with the
familiar."
Fifteen hundred years later, no one had significantly
added to Ptolemy's statement about its properties
despite many theories proposed.
● in 1651 Riccioli (15) made measurements
indicating at least the size of the illusion:
The moon seemed to be about 40 minutes
(two-thirds of a degree) larger at the
horizon than at the zenith.
● In 1909, Pozdena (14) found that the moon
appeared 2.5 times as large at the horizon as
at the zenith. More recent evidence (see Fig.
1-1) indicates that a ratio of 2.0 to 1 is more
accurate.
● The discrepancy between Riccioli and
Pozdena's findings is because they both
used different methods.
● A common method was to compare the
apparent size of an artificial moon of constant
size with the actual moon, moving the artificial
moon away from the observer until it looked
exactly the size of the actual moon at one
position.
● Then the experimenter waited actual Fig. 1-1.
Psychology and Education 11 for the real moon
to change position and permitted the observer
to judge again where—to match the real moon
in apparent size—the artificial moon had to be
placed. But this caused an underestimation of
the illusion
● People are known to see objects, no matter how
far away they are, as the same size—a
principle known as size constancy.
● In Pozdena's experiment the size constancy
effect does not appear because the artificial
moon was kept at a constant distance from the
observer, which allowed the observer to adjust
its size until it matched the apparent size of
the actual moon.
 A modern view of moon illusion
- perceptual phenomenon of size constancy
knowledge or psychology in general
- moon looks larger to people than a camera
could record
- Holway and Boring (they found varied head
movements do not produce illusion/ neither to
those monocular persons/ or to those normal
person just using one eye)
- Boring and his associate verified the previous
hypotheses
- Kaufman and Rock presents a summary of
various conclusion
- moon illusion is the result of a normal
developmental process
- perceptual experience
How is this connected psychological
- scientific persistence practiced on behavioral
problem
- series of successive approximations
- exemplifies the research topics that is pursued in
the study of behavior
- actual—or physical—size and perceived—or
psychological—size
- the way we experience world isn’t necessarily
related to how the world is constructed.
- physical world and psychological world
- pattern of development (ex: phonics approach)
- scientific method ( (a) stating a definition of the
problem to be studied, (b) forming questions or
hypotheses to be tested, (c) constructing an
experiment, a series of controlled observations, or
a series of experiments to test the hypotheses, (d)
interpreting the data obtained, and (e) stating the
conclusions
- truth is discovered by empirical methods
- experimentation and observation than reason
alone
- Inductive ( specific to general)
- deductive (general to specific)
- research is not valid and reliable because it is
simply research
- study of human behavior involves inferences and
assumptions
- there are errors such as; over generalizing, lax and
not sufficiently controlled
-
they want to know everything to is it facts to what
each words they refer to
- ex: in 1890, 358,000 persons were enrolled in high
schools in the United States and that 5,358,000
persons from 14 through 17 years of age lived in the
United States. d "7% of American children of high
school age were in high school in 1890,".
- operational definition of terms in a statement
alleged to be a fact.
- most intellectual concern of the moment
 What Is Educational Psychology?
Educational psychology is the study of how people learn, including
teaching methods, instructional processes, and individual differences
in learning.
• Because education is so closely associated with the study of learning,
psychologists play a central role in our educational systems.
• In the United States, educational psychologists represent about 8%
of all psychologists, and school psychologists, about 6% (Table 1-1).
• Much of the research done in all the subfields of psychology has a
direct relevance to problems of education.
Ex. clinical psychologist who studies
emotional problems in the underachiever or
the counseling and guidance specialist.
 Educational psychologists
• They are employed as professors in colleges and
universities throughout the United States

• Most school psychologists, on the other hand, are

employed in public school systems ( see Table 1-2 ).

• The educational psychologist in many ways, is an

educational engineer concerned with the application
of knowledge to practical problems of behavior.
 Many educational psychologists believe that they should depend less
on other areas of psychology for the principles being applied to education
and do more of their own theory development and systematic research.
“Wittrock” research in educational psychology needs to progress
beyond the level of unrelated facts about instruction and teaching.
. As a summary of the present state of the art of teaching, he points out:
------“Research in educational psychology has not progressed far
beyond the development of an organized body of knowledge relevant to
the understanding and the control of instruction and teaching.
Infrequently have we designed our studies to build sequentially upon
earlier findings or to produce useful knowledge about the cause and
effect relations between instruction and individual differences on the one
hand, and the multiple outcomes of instruction and teaching, on the
other hand.”
 “Wittrock” believes that educational psychology
has reached the stage in its development to afford more
liberal and less restrictive conceptualizations of its role.
--------"It is time for us to practice a liberal
conceptualization of educational psychology as the
scientific study of human behavior in educational
settings. As scientists we should attempt to describe,
understand, predict, and control behavior in
education.”
 Educational Psychology
The topics of study in psychology that are
relevant to education are representative of the
whole spectrum of research activity in
psychology.
When the educational psychologist’s major
motive of research is an attempt to "describe,
understand, predict, and control behavior in
education," then there are major areas in which
the educational psychologist should have some
competence:
1. The physiological structure of the organism,
physical growth, and maturation.

2. Learning as a fundamental process underlying

behavioral change.

3. Motivation as an important factor in

understanding behavior: the factors which determine
the direction and strength of behavior.

4. The development of personality

5. The process of individual development viewed in

its continuity over time.

6. The measurement and evaluation of behavior.

 Educational Psychology
All these broad topics are interrelated, so that trying to
understand one without also considering the others
would be extremely difficult.
➢ Other topics could be listed, too, either as part of
those above or as separate subjects.

➢ Do not be impatient for immediate answers to

specific problems; psychology contains more
general answers which point the way to specificity.

➢ Not all that you read in this report will make

teaching easier.
➢ It’s not important Whether the teacher directs
the student through vigorous efforts to shape
his behavior or whether the student directs
himself it is almost irrelevant.

➢ What is important is that successful education

changes behavior in the direction of agreed upon
objectives.

➢ Educational psychology helps you to think about

behavior more objectively and more logically as
you develop a frame of reference that identifies
you as a teacher.
 Summary
- applied psychology are classroom learning and classroom
teaching.
- science of psychology (academic and technology)
academic discipline: scientific study of the behavior
technology: changing behavior

- 1. Fact over "expert" opinion

- 2. Logic over intuition
- 3. Purity of research methods over speed of gaining knowledge
- Psychological research has many purpose
-However, many psychologists seek to predict behavior and
ultimately to develop techniques for its control.
-The educational psychologist is a psychologist trained to do
research in the field of education.
-designs and completes research on problems of educational
practice
-evaluates and applies relevant knowledge from other fields of
psychology
-Research projects also suggest how educational programs may
be developed to shape behavior.
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