Interacting with the World

Educational psychology

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Learning more about how we learn

From primary education to upskilling adults, education plays a central and important role in our lives.

  • How do children and adults learn? 
  • Under what conditions is learning optimal?
  • How do emotions, interests, and personality influence the way learning takes place?
  • Why do some people learn more easily than others?
  • What is the relation between neural processes and learning (educational neuroscience)?
  • And what can teachers, parents, and peers do to support learning?

Group members aim to advance our understanding of these and other questions by integrating techniques and methodologies from experimental psychology, social psychology, cognitive (neuro)science and other related disciplines.

We are committed to producing high quality work that directly benefits society. Our work is related to other research areas such as emotion, and justice, fairness and equality.

Publications

2023

2022

2019 - 2021

A close up of a microphone with a blurred crowded room in the background.
Understanding Our Place In The World: The Essex Psychology Podcast Series

This podcast series from the Department of Psychology brings together experts in the department to discuss how psychology research gives insight into a range of issues, from maintaining relationships in lockdown, to the thought processes that are linked to conspiracy theory beliefs.

View our podcast episodes