Development of a research specialty: Instructional psychology portrayed in The Annual Review of Psychology

Abstract

The relatively new research specialty, instructional psychology, has been the topic of five chapters in the Annual Review of Psychology. Development of this specialty is studied through content analysis and citation analysis of these chapters. Cognitive structure of the field is found to be more converging than diverging and more conforming than radical. Social structure shows growth without divergence and a close fit with established institutions. The field would be enriched through greater attention to research being conducted outside the United States and to research reflecting conceptions and methods in addition to those from the experimental-quantitative tradition.