I'm not really sure! But, I know what you mean; I've seen a total beginner do something like this many times...
I would like to know if there is some kind of common psychological explination or common flawed reasoning behind this tendency.
Why does a new player start board edge?
Sort:
It depends. It's easier to play around the edges, since you keep the general oversight and you don't drop so many pieces. As a beginner it was my idea also to go a4, h4, Ra3, Re3, Rh3, Ree4, Rhe3, Rxe7+ Which worked relatively well at the time.
As was mentioned earlier, they know that the rooks are the most powerful piece aside from the queen. Powerful = better = use them as much as they can. This idea also feeds itself off of the idea that attacking the king is always most important, and they know that many people will castle to the edge of the board. so if they push the h and g pawns, they have a chance of attacking the enemy king. As they face stronger opponents, this starts to fail and so they have to start playing more solidly instead of outright aggressively, and they learn enough to play with the other pieces and pawns in the center and get castled.
In summary, playing on the edges allows them to get out their powerful pieces and aggressively attack a king, when they're at a stage where not all of their common opponents will have the knowledge required to defend against such attacks. Since this is not a sound strategy, it gets slowly strained out as the ratings go up, keeping it as a beginner's reasoning.
Why does a new player start board edge?