According to the investigation, the father of educational psychology is Thorndike. Thorndike published "Educational Psychology" in 1903, which is the first monograph named after educational psychology in the west, laying the foundation for the development of educational psychology, thus establishing the name and system of western educational psychology. Therefore, Thorndike is called "the father of educational psychology".

Thorndike adopted the research orientation of positivism, which led to the scientific research of educational psychology. He is a pioneer of scientific educational psychology and the first psychologist to systematically discuss educational psychology.