Chapter IV 



EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 

 by Lewis M. Terman 



PSYCHOLOGY as a scientific discipline is only two gener- 

 ations old, the first laboratory having been founded in 

 1879. Educational psychology is considerably younger, for 

 it was only natural that the early workers in the new field 

 should be completely engrossed in devising investigational 

 methods and in laying the broad outlines of the science as 

 a whole with little regard to its practical values. When 

 later the importance of psychology for education began to 

 be recognized, treatises were written which explained the 

 applications of psychological laws to the teaching process. 

 For some time educational psychology was thus nourished 

 almost entirely from crumbs that fell from the table of the 

 so-called "pure" psychologist, with the result that the 

 latter was often inclined to regard it with a certain amount 

 of contempt. When later the problems of educational 

 psychology began to be investigated on their own account, 

 it was found that the line between pure and applied science 

 is more imaginary than real and that science itself is largely 

 dependent for its growth on the motivation that has its 

 source in practical issues. 



To-day educational psychology is no longer applied psy- 

 chology in the old sense of the term. It is one of the most 

 important aspects of the general science, just as psycho- 

 pathology is, and just as animal behavior is. Its methods, 

 devised for such specific purposes as investigating indi- 



[94] 



