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1.2 PSYCHOLOGY DIVIDED 13

errors.‘Twisting the Lens’ nicely displays the benefits of taking both scientific approaches into account. A strong argument can be made that the divide rep resented by these two schools has seriously held back the ability of psychology to provide a unified account of human behaviour, and associated thoughts and feel ings. Cronbach was not the only prominent psycholo gist to recognize the problems entailed by maintaining this divide (see Corr, 2000). Indeed, not too long after Cronbach’s statement, Hans Eysenck (1965, p. 8) declared: Individuals do differ . . . and it seems to me that psy chology will never advance very far without a recog nition of the complexities which are produced by this fact of personality. Yet it is possible to unify these two disciplines of scien tific psychology for the benefit of psychology as a whole. In Chapter 5, we see how state processes, which are dis covered and characterized by experimental methods, can be combined with traits of personality that have been un covered and defined by observational and correlational methods. Much the same is true of intelligence, as we see in Chapter 16. Nevertheless, a cursory look around a psychology library, the types of academic journals and books published, and the modules of university The distinction between experimental and correlational psychology characterizes the ‘two schools of psychol ogy’. They are often researched in isolation. However, when combined they can have an important applied impact. This is seen in aptitude–treatment interac tion (ATI) research, articulated by Cronbach and Snow (1977), which can be applied to instructional strategies in schools and in other learning environments. ATI states that the effectiveness of a ‘treatment’ (e.g. method of in struction) is dependent on the ‘aptitude’ of the learner— and what might work best for one person might be quite different to what works best for another person. ATI states that optimal learning occurs when the method of instruction matches the aptitude of the learner. As Snow (1991) points out, ATIs are very common in education, and they can be complex: ‘Learning style differences can be linked to relatively stable person or aptitude

psychology programmes, show clearly how psychology has singly failed to unite these two schools.

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SECTION SUMMARY • The field of research psychology was formed from different starting points, and this established a di vision which continues to this day. • Wilhelm Wundt focused on experimental methods, manipulating variables and testing for mean differ ences between these ‘treatments’ or ‘conditions’. • Francis Galton was interested in how people differ from one another, that is, in the variance observed in psychological studies. • These ‘two schools’ of psychology are represented in the books, journals, and conferences that com prise the general field of psychology, as well as in the modular nature of undergraduate psychology programmes taught by specialists in their respec tive subjects. • It is possible to unite the field by combining experi mental and correlational methods, allowing the re search to explain in scientific terms what is causing the differences seen in a typical experimental study. variables, but they also vary within individuals as a func tion of task and situation variables’ (p. 51). Think about your own learning experience, and ask yourself: 1. What might be some of the major aptitudes (i.e. personality factors) that influence the effectiveness of two types of instruction: group work and inde pendent library study? 2. How might schoolteachers go about tailoring their teaching styles to match individuals’ aptitudes? 3. What might be the consequences to the individual student and wider society of ignoring the influence of ATIs? 4. Why do you think there is such a reluctance to as sess aptitudes in children to help them get the most out of their education?

TWISTING THE LENS: EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

© Oxford University Press

© Oxford University Press