ABSTRACT
Although the question posed in the title to this introductory chapter is meant to be rhetorical, we can say with some confidence that educational psychology, and many of the educational psychologists at work in the discipline, knows a great deal about adult learning and development. This knowledge derives from a history of research as old as the discipline itself and a number of research traditions in the field. The earliest roots of educational psychology’s interest in adult learning can be traced to the World War I, when a committee of prominent psychologists, led by Robert Yerkes, was appointed by the American Psychological Association to create mental aptitude measures to be used in the war effort (Anastasi, 1988). The purpose of these tests, which came to be called the Army Alpha and Army Beta tests, was to classify young adult conscripts with regard to their intellectual abilities. Following World War II, there was a dramatic increase in the numbers of adults enrolling in postsecondary education, primarily as a result of the GI Bill. Participation in all forms of adult education doubled in size from 1924 to 1950 (Pressey & Kuhlen, 1957).
