ABSTRACT
The improvement of the education of millions of students in elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges, and universities around the world presents an enormous opportunity for educational psychology. Basic skills in reading, mathematics, and physical science are essential in modern, technologically advanced societies. The amelioration through education and training of complex social problems, such as crime and drug-abuse, could add enormously to the quality of life and to the productivity of individuals around the world. Knowledge about the social sciences and the humanities is an important and enriching part of our daily lives. Developments in educational psychology provide useful ways to contribute to important educational and training opportunities. The vocabulary of cognitive psychology includes, as central concepts, attention, motivation, comprehension, and knowledge acquisition, all terms commonly used by educational researchers and by theorists and researchers in psychology. The extraordinary energy invested into research on complicated problems in educational psychology represents an unprecedented opportunity. We need ideas and leadership from educational psychologists.
