Educational psychology is a very practical subject. From the perspective of discipline category, it is not only a branch of psychology, but also an interdisciplinary subject produced by the combination of pedagogy and psychology. The nature of any subject is inseparable from its research object, which defines the system of the subject and determines its nature and characteristics.

The research object of educational psychology is students' psychological phenomena and their changing laws in the process of education, and how to learn and teach effectively according to these laws. Starting from this definition, educational psychology should be a subject that pays equal attention to both basic research and applied research. As a branch of psychology, educational psychology is highly theoretical, and as a discipline guiding educational practice, it has extremely distinct practicality and application.