education pychology notes
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| Book: | education pychology notes |
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| Date: | Sunday, 7 December 2025, 6:09 AM |
1. introduction to education pychology
INTRODUCTION TO EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
What is Psychology? The term is derived from two Greek words:
Psyche--------Soul (mind)
Logos---------Study of
The Greek viewed Psychology as the study of souls. This view has evolved over the years.
Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental process. Three key terms in this
definition are: Science, behavior and mental processes.
What is Psychology? The term is derived from two Greek words:
Psyche--------Soul (mind)
Logos---------Study of
The Greek viewed Psychology as the study of souls. This view has evolved over the years.
• Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental process. Three key terms
in this definition are: Science, behavior and mental processes.
• Science:
• Psychology uses systematic methods to observe, describe, predict and explain
behaviour. Scientific methods are not casual and do not rely on common sense or day
today reasoning.
• Behaviour:
• This is everything we do that can be directly observed. Crying, laughing, hugging,
dancing, fighting, staring.
• Mental processes:
• These are thoughts, feelings, and motives that each of us experience privately, and
cannot be observed directly. These are normally inferred from behaviour.
• Psychology may also be defined as the scientific study of the mind through the
observation of behaviour
GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY
• Describe: gathering information on an issue so as to describe more accurately
and completely
• Predict: Try to predict future behaviour e.g. performance at work and school
• BRANCHES OF PSYCHOLOGY
• Psychology is a broad discipline. Branches are as many as there are aspects of
human behavior. Two broad areas:
• Experimental Psychology: focuses on basic research, usually laboratory
research.
• Applied psychology: focuses on human areas where psychological research
information is directed.
Common branches are:
• Clinical psychology
• Counselling psychology
• Industrial or organizational
• Sports psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Learning psychology
• Educational psychology: The scientific study of human behaviour and mental
processes within learning set up.
It seeks to understand the behaviour of the learner, the learning process and the learning
environment, and tries to appreciate how these interact to influence learning.
Compiled by
Bongera
0707366965
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IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY TO TEACHERS
• Equips teachers with psychological theories and principles
• Understand the nature and behaviour of the students
• Appreciate individual differences and cater for the same in different set ups
• Better understanding of learner’s needs and handle situations appropriately
• Better understanding of the learning process and how to make learning more effective
• Teachers are able to appreciate learning processes e.g memory, forgetting
2. development psychology
Developmental Psychology
• A branch of basic psychology that attempts to explore the life long process or
changes.
• The scientific study of growth, development and behaviour changes of beings from
conception through to death. These changes are physical, emotional, mental, social
etc.
• It is synonymous with the term ‘Child psychology’ which is the study of human
growth and development.
• The study of human growth and development that concerns itself with the description
and explanation of changes in human behaviour that are as a result of maturation and
experience.
• It studies physical, cognitive and psychosocial changes across the life-span. It looks at
how changes occur qualitatively and quantitatively over time.
• Research in child development attempts to answer 3 questions:
• How does it take place? Stages, sequence, do the skills become more
progressively different
• Nature of changes: categogrize differences e.g between 2 and 4 years
• What makes these changes occur? What forces are responsible for child
development
• Behaviour: Observable aspects or activities of an individual or organism.
• Maturation: Describes the state of readiness; whereby the body parts and cells are
ready for function.
Growth: It is quantitative changes that occur from conception to death. There are different
types of growth:
• Hyperplastic growth – increase in the number of cells
• Hypertrophic growth – increase or decrease in the size of cells
• Non-cellular growth – material increase or decrease in the body e.g Urine, excretion
etc
Development:
• Refers to qualitative changes that take place in a human being from conception to
death as a result of maturation and environment
• Emergence of capabilities over time. The changes could be social, emotional, physical
and moral. Physically for instance, could be in terms of motor development e.g a child
sitting -> crawling ->walking ->running.
NB:
2
• Growth and development are interrelated. Growth facilitates development and vice
versa. For instance, a child whose muscles are growing properly will easily be able to
walk at maturation.
• It is not possible to draw a line where growth stops and development starts.
•
STAGES OF HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
• Behaviour:
• Observable aspects or activities of an individual or organism.
• Maturation:
• Describes the state of readiness; whereby the body parts and cells are ready for
function.
• Increase in child’s competence and adaptability.
• It is describing the qualitative change in a structure.
• The level of maturation depends on child’s heredity.
• Growth
• It refers to an increase in physical size of the whole body or any of its parts.
• It is quantitative changes that occur from conception to death. There are different
types of growth:
• Hyperplastic growth – increase in the number of cells
• Hypertrophic growth – increase or decrease in the size of cells
•
• Non-cellular growth – material increase or decrease in the body e.g Urine, excretion
etc
• Development:
• It refers to a progressive increase in skill and capacity of function.
• Refers to qualitative changes that take place in a human being from conception to
death as a result of maturation and environment
• Emergence of capabilities over time. The changes could be social, emotional, physical
and moral. Physically for instance, could be in terms of motor development e.g a child
sitting -> crawling ->walking ->running.
• It can be measured through observation.
• NB:
• Growth and development are interrelated. Growth facilitates development and vice
versa. For instance, a child whose muscles are growing properly will easily be able to
walk at maturation.
• It is not possible to draw a line where growth stops and development starts.