It may be considered distinct from pedagogy, the art or science of teaching, and pediatrics, the field of medicine relating to children.
However, pedology is not commonly recognized as a distinct field of study; therefore, many people who would be described as pedologists are instead described as pedagogues, pediatricians, psychologists, etc.
G. Stanley Hall (1844–1924) fostered pedology as a separate study, and also became instrumental in the development of modern educational psychology.
In Russian Empire a prominent developer of the field was Aleksandr Petrovich Nechayev [ru] in St. Petersburg, who in 1901 created the laboratory of experimental pedagogical psychology.
It was officially condemned in 1936 after a special decree of VKP(b) Central Committee "On Pedological Perversions in the System of Narkomproses" on July 4, 1936.