Educational psychology terminology was not part of the literature until early part of the 20^th century prior to that studies about children and education was known as child studies, also known through the literature as the study chid movement. Dewey, Thorndike and contemporary educational researchers attempted to study children educational practices from a scientific point of view. Researchers tend to collected data from many topics including children's knowledge of the world, their opinions, and their physical attributes. The information collected was published in many contemporary Journals of the time. Eventually, children were used as subjects for research. The child study movement came under criticism for its goals and methods and concern by parents and teachers that regarded the studies as depersonalizing its subjects. In sum, eventually researchers like Thorndike spark new ideas that eventually led to educational psychology in a new path of scientific endeavors.

Throndike stimulus response theoretical paradigm served as a pillar to the scientific movement in education and psychology as well. Educational psychologists began to look at intelligence testing and measurements. Research psychological laboratories were founded to record range abilities and collected data pertaining to developmental disabilities, genius, and mental retardation school performance to examine and determine factors that will predict academic success. Consequently around 1910-1920 the French psychologist Alfred Binet testing and scaling methods became very popular in the United States thanks to Lewis Therman who furthered Binet work at Standford University (Sattler, 1990). New statistical methods became part of experimental and educational studies that by 1930 several analytical journals and books were part of educational measurement.

By 1947, though 1950,s the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy began new selection test based on research did on the subject of testing and analytical techniques methods. These new analytical and statistical techniques were spark thanks to books written by Louis L. Thurstone (1887-1955), (Sattler, 1990.

Finally, Therman and Thurstone work and studies in IQ and intelligence testing initiated a new era in group testing and intelligence testing which became part of educational psychology because now the information collected could be analyzed scientifically.