PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology of Education

[Name of the Institute]

Psychology of Education

Introduction

Educational Psychology observes education as a whole and its impact on students, the branch strives to apply the ideals and theories of psychology in education. It studies the behaviour of novices in their academic environment and their educational needs. Educational Psychology proposes effective measures for teachers and educationists for the better understanding of students' behaviour and their needs. It is the scientific approach to maximize the fruits of education in a timely and efficient mode.

Discussion

One of the primary mental characteristic of human personality and brain is its ability to learn, the cognitive ability, and psychology observes and studies the stages of its development and affects on man from childhood to adulthood. The cognitive ability is one of the most significant features of human development, Educational Psychology endeavour to make use of the ability to reap far stretched results and support students in sharpening their learning experiences. The Theory of Cognitive Development is developed by Jean Piaget; he was amongst the most prominent researchers working in the area of developmental psychology. He had sharp interest in learning the way children perceive things from the time of their birth to maturation; as a biologist Piaget explained the relationship of environment with the cognitive capability of man (Huitt & Hummel, 2003).

According to him, man has the mental strength of assimilation and accommodation, which help him in surviving his surrounding. The assimilation process helps the child in matching the atmosphere to its pre-existing, or already stored, information. In the accommodation process, the child adjusts his cognitive or learning quality according to its environment. Both the methods facilitate the child in surviving its surrounding and polishing its learning talent, the information collected as a result of these processes are accumulated in the child's memory. The data recurs as soon as mind comes across the same situation; the mental organisation becomes complicated as more complex information is introduced (Huitt & Hummel, 2003).

The cognitive ability of an individual helps it in adapting to new surrounding and learning new things, still the psychological theories applied on the education department are not always valid. It is believed that like science, whose level of efficiency has been increased with the induction of experiment process, the educational sector can also benefit from the technique. The process of memorizing is considered as one of the many ways aimed at increasing students' academic abilities; memorizing is treated as a mental exercise that prepares the minds of children to absorb and understand complex ideas and matters. The efficacy of the method is, however, not verified; other methods include the retrieval practice process in which the student tests the data provided to it. The respective design will help the students in memorizing the information, which will assist them in applying the data whenever needed. The interleave practice suffuses the practice of one experiment or study into other topics, which leaves deeper effect and mark on the students' mind and memory. The elaborative interrogation and self-explanation procedures are a breakout ...