Laboratory experiments are usually carried out in the laboratory, and more scientific and technological means are generally used. With the help of laboratory experiments, we can study psychological activities such as perception, attention, memory and thinking. Now we can simulate some natural environment or teaching environment in the laboratory to study some psychological phenomena. But generally speaking, laboratory experiments are mostly used to study some simple psychological phenomena, but they have great limitations in studying complex phenomena in human personality.
Natural experiment is a method to observe the psychological activities of subjects by changing some conditions and controlling others in a planned way according to the purpose of research under the actual educational and teaching situation. Natural experiment is a method between laboratory experiment and natural observation. Different from laboratory experiments, it is carried out in the actual educational situation, and the results are close to reality, which can truly reflect the psychological phenomenon in the educational process; It is also different from the natural observation method, which is not to observe the natural process of education purely and objectively, but to change certain conditions in the actual situation of education and give the subjects the necessary influence to observe the changes, so it is more active and the results are more accurate. Natural experiment is the most commonly used research method in educational psychology. According to the research content, it can be mainly divided into educational experiment and teaching experiment. Educational experiments study the psychological problems in the formation and cultivation of students' personality and moral quality. Teaching experiment is to study the psychological problems in the teaching of various subjects. They are all carried out in the natural or quasi-natural process of education and teaching, so they all belong to a natural experiment.