The study of how people, especially children, learn and which teaching methods and materials are most effective.

Educational psychologists create achievement tests, develop learning aids and curricula, study cognitive development, and investigate psychological issues in the classroom, including adjustment problems and teacher-pupil interaction. Research in educational psychology encompasses such diverse topics as gender differences in mathematical ability; ways to help dyslexies read and learn better; the effects of anxiety on education; identifying and working with gifted children; the effects of television on school work; and creativity in children of a certain age or grade level.

Since educational psychology began to develop as a distinct field, its practitioners have tended to focus either on school and curriculum reform or measurement and learning theory. Early pioneers of the first approach were William James (1842-1910) and John Dewey (1859-1952) in the 1890s. James, whose functionalist philosophy focused on how...