This report discusses the relationship between the fields of early childhood education and developmental psychology. A historical overview focuses on the early influence of Freud's psychoanalytical principles on early childhood education. Developmental psychologists became involved with ECE on a large scale in the 1960's, encouraged largely by the formation of Project Head Start. The works of Benjamin Bloom, Basil Bernstein, J. McV. Hunt, and Burton White are mentioned because of their impact on educational practices. Jean Piaget has been a major contributor to developmental theory. Although his work dominated the field by 1960, the implications of his theory for education were uncertain. Piaget's stage theory is reviewed with emphasis on the aspects that are most relevant to instructional methods. An example of an American preschool based on Piagetian principles, the Ypsilanti Early Education Program, is described; and the influence of the "open classroom" in English education is noted. Alternative educational approaches, not based on Piaget's theory, are discussed, represented by the Bereiter-Engelmann curriculum. Finally, the paper reviews the topic of moral development, focusing on the cognitive-developmental approach of Kohlberg. Arguments for developmentally based moral education are presented. (DP)