education pychology notes

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 
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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