• William Torrey Harris (1835-1909) was a remarkable philosophy and founder of the Journal of Speculative Philosophy. He assimilated the views Pestalozzi, Froebel, and Hegel. Harris contributed to educational theorizing and wrote one of the first texts in educational psychology in 1898. Harris beliefs in Froebel views and St. Louis schools were the first to make kindergarten part of the public school system.

•  William James (1842-1910) was considered the central figure in the establishment of psychology in America. He was the first to teach experimental psychology in the United States. After 12 years of labor, he was the first American to write a psychology textbook Principles of Psychology published in 1890. James was instrumental in writing papers about psychology and education . One of his most notable and prestigious work is a lecture series Talks to Teachers These lectures were delivered elementary and secondary school teachers in Cambridge at the request of Harvard University Administrators.  William James new psychology of teaching as it was called at the time because principles of education and psychology were integrated as a method to teach children. (Berlinger, 1993, (Walberg and Haertel, 1992, Hilgard, 1996, Thomas, 1996, Brigmann-Wolfgang, 1997, Taylor, 1993) He approved the recitation method and the introduction of object teaching and engaging the student in learning, and cooperative activities. In summary his ideas and principles still truth today, (Ormrod, 1998) stressed in her textbook ( Advanced Educational Psychology, 2ed) similar principles and strategies like the ones William James delivered in 1895 and 1896 lectures series. Strategies like cooperative learning and authentic activities to improve classroom instructions. Still, for educational psychologists and teachers that understand William philosophy can see how his ideas remain part of education today almost 100 years after William James Legacy.

Stanley Hall was the first to graduate from William James experimental psychology program and the first to get a Ph.D. in experimental psychology. Like James his interest in the child study movement and in pedagogy was influential at the time. In 1888, founded Clark University his interest in educating the child and teachers continued to grow over the years. His professorship at Johns Hopkins University in 1883 was in psychology and pedagogy. Hall was the organizer and first president of the American Psychological Association( APA). He founded the first research laboratory at Johns Hopkins University. The laboratory introduced incentives such as university fellowship for graduate students. These attracted other students like John Dewey among others (Berlinger, 1993, Walberg and Haertel, 1992, Hilgard, 1996). 

• John Dewey (1859-1952) learned about experimental psychology and pedagogical principles by studying under the leadership of Hall. His interests in education turned to education in the form of Laboratory School indicative of his early training on experimental philosophy that was part of the University of Chicago from 1896 to 1903. While at the University of Chicago he was a professor and head of the Department of Philosophy, which included psychology and pedagogical. He is notorious as a writer of books that influence and shape educational practices in America. These books are as follows: The School and Society (1899), Interest and Effort in Education (1913), Schools of Tomorrow (1915), and Democracy and Education (1916) (Berlinger, 1996, Walberg and Haertel, 1992, Hilgard, 1996).

• Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) a colleague of Dewey exchange ideas and use the data collected by Thorndike were adapted for use in Dewey schools. His perspective and ideas centered around principles of learning theories. His dissertation on animal has been the premise for learning theories in American Psychology. He was able to develop two major thrusts: the improvement of instruction in the classroom, and measurement of both the learner and the products of learning ( Berlinger, 1996, Walberg and Haertel, 1992, Hilgard, 1996, Ormrod, 1995).

Charles H. Judd (1873-1946) graduated from a Wesleyan University in Connecticut a year before Thorndike. He went to Leipzig to study with Wilhelm Wundt one of the leading European psychologists and writer of several volumes of general psychology in Germany. Judd translated his books. Gradually, he earned recognition in experimental psychology and directed at Yale a laboratory. As he moved into education and educational administration his ideas and several conceptions from his earlier training under Wundt. Thus motivated by his early training he wrote several books covering several themes such as Silent Reading (Judd, 1927), Psychology of High School Subjects (Judd, 1927) Psychology of Social Institutions Judd, 1926), and Education as the Cultivation of Higher Mental Processes (Judd, 1936).for a brief description of the themes of this books see: ( Berlinger, 1996, Walberg and Haertel, 1992, Hilgard, 1996).