UNIT 1 Skinner 1958: Educational psychology is that branch of psychology which deals with teaching and learning.

Peel 1956: Educational psychology is the science of education. Nature of educational psychology Educational psychology possesses a well organized, systematic and universally accepted body of facts supported by the relevant psychological laws and principles. It employs scientific methods and adopts a scientific approach for studying the learners behaviors.

SCOPE OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY The scope of educational psychology is wide and ever increasing. The scope of educational psychology revolves around five key factors. The learner The teacher The learning experiences The learning process The learning environment The learner The innate abilities and capacities of the learner. Intelligence, creativity, aptitudes, interests. Psychology of the individual differences, Nature &development of the personality of the learner.

The teacher Educational psychology emphasizes the need of knowing the self of a teacher to play his/her role. It discusses tars conflicts, motivation, anxiety, adjustment, level of aspiration etc. The learning experiences Educational psychology suggests the techniques of acquiring the learning experiences. It helps in deciding what learning experiences are desirable at what stage of growth and development of the learner. The learning process Around this pivot, educational psychology deals with the nature of learning and how it takes place. Contains the topics such as laws, principles & theories of learning. Remembering and forgetting, thinking and reasoning process, ways and means of effective learning.

The learning environment Topics like classroom climate, group dynamics, techniques and aids which facilitate learning, evaluation techniques and practices ,guidance and counseling .etc which help in the smooth functioning of the teaching and learning process comes around this pivot.