14 Psychological Foundation

Psychological Foundation
Educational Psychology
Psychology is defined as the science of behavior and mental processes. This definition contains key terms –
Science, Behavior and Mental processes. Psychology is considered to be a science because psychologists
attempt to understand people through careful, controlled observation.
The term behaviour refers to a person’s overt actions that others can directly observe.
The term mental processes refer to the private thoughts, emotions, feelings and motives that others cannot
directly observe i.e. the covert behavior.
So today, Psychology is defined as the science of behaviour and cognitive processes.
Educational psychology is one of the many branches of psychology dealing mainly with the problems, process
and products of education. It is an attempt to apply the knowledge of psychology in the field of education.
Educational psychology may be defined as that branch of psychology which studies the behaviour of the
learner in relation to his educational needs and his environment. Skinner defines educational psychology as
that branch of psychology which deals with teaching and learning. Overall, this helps to solve the problems
related to teaching & learning.
Contribution of Educational Psychology to The Teaching Process
Education aims at shaping the behaviour of the students in a desirable way and bringing about all-round
development in their personality. Educational psychology helps in the process of teaching and learning by
adopting the scientific principle.
In educational psychology, the scope of behavioural study has to be limited within the confines of the teaching-
learning process, i.e., studying the behaviour of the learner in relation to their educational environmental,
specifically for the satisfaction of their educational needs and the all-round development of their personality.
Therefore, the subject matter of educational psychology must be centered on the process of teaching and
learning for enabling the teacher and learners to do their jobs as satisfactorily as possible. The educative process
includes the following areas of education of the learner:
1. Teacher:
Teacher’s role is very crucial in the task of behavioral modification and personality development of number of
children studying in a class. Methods of teaching, assessments, maintaining discipline and class management
and many other issues need serious attention of teachers.
2. Learner:
Before the learner is taught, his individuality and personality should be known. Therefore, topics like the
following should be included which will be helpful in exploring the individual’s life:
• Learner’s instincts and other innate abilities.
• The learned abilities.
• Individual differences in terms of abilities and capacities.
• Their interests, aptitudes, attitudes, intelligence and creativity.
• Mental health and personality.
3. Learning process:
The subject matter of educational psychology covers the topics helpful in suggesting principles, methods and
techniques for the selection of the learning experiences appropriate to each development stage of the children.
It tells how to organize the contents or topics grade-wise for giving them the shape of a syllabus or curriculum;
even how to cater to the individual differences and individuality of the children in framing the syllabi or
curricula. The subject tries to encompass the essential knowledge and skills for equipping the teachers to plan,
select and arrange learning experiences to the children suitable for their age, grade and also meeting their
specific individual potentialities.
As a result, its study involves the following topics:
• Motivation of learning
• Factors affecting learning
• Transfer of learning / training
• Concept formation
• Interest and attitude formation
• Thinking, reasoning and problem-solving behavior etc.
4. Learning Environment:
Educational psychology helps the teacher and the learners to understand the suitability and appropriateness of a
teaching - learning situation for the effective realization of the teaching - learning objectives. Every
environmental situation is not suitable for a particular piece of instruction or the sharing of a learning
experience. The effectiveness of a teaching - learning program depends largely on the suitability of the teaching
- learning situations in terms of time, place and other environmental factors. Educational psychology helps in
taking into account the following:
• Classroom climate
• Group behaviour and group dynamics
• Role of rewards and punishment
• Guidance and counseling
5. Learning Resources:
Educational psychology has the full responsibility of suggesting techniques of acquiring the learning resources.
Educational psychology helps in deciding what learning resources 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. In this
area educational psychology has the subject matter which deals with the knowledge and principles of
psychology which facilitates the selection of the desirable learning resources for the learner. It helps in taking
into account in organizing the following:
• Print media - books, newspapers, magazines
• Audio - Visual- television, films
• Multimedia – Computers (online & off line)
• Museum, Visits, Exhibitions, etc.
Educational Psychology is a continuously growing discipline adding new dimensions to its field of study.

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Psychological Foundation

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