Simply put, behavioral psychologists believe that cognitive processes should be ignored since they cannot be seen and only behavioral outcomes studied (since they can be observed and recorded). They believe that what goes on inside of the mind is of no importance and that only what people or animals do is worth studying.
The simplest scenario for behaviorists is the stimulus-response scenario. There is an outside observable stimulus (like a sudden loud noise) and there is an observable response (like a startle reflex) to study. These stimulus and response actions can become a lot more complex and involved but behaviorists ignore any changes that may go on inside the person cognitively and focus only on the response.
The behaviorists call the person the "black box" and, according to this philosophy, what goes on inside the black box can never be known and thus could safely be ignored.
With new neuropsychological and automation advances, we can see some the physiological results of many cognitive processes as they occur. For instance, there are PET scans (positron emission tomography) that allow the researcher to see what areas of the brain are active during various activities without actually doing any brain surgery. So we can begin to observe what is happening inside the "black box."
Motivation has been shown to be very important in learning. Motivation can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation means being motivated by a personal goal, desire to achieve, desire to please others, prepare for a profession, and so forth. In this case, some internal reason motivates you. Extrinsic motivation means being motivated to receive a higher grade, get a promotion, earn a higher salary or bonus, receive recognition from others, and so forth. In this case, external rewards motivate you.
Most people are motivated by a mixture of these two factors with one or the other being more important. Some people are more intrinsically motivated and some are more extrinsically motivated. It would be difficult to find someone who is wholly intrisically or wholly extrinsically motivated. But the important thing is that motivation affects learning. You must invest something of yourself in order to learn and process information. Learning has to be important to you for whatever reasons, intrinsic or extrinsic.
The cognitive process of learning involves three data storage stages: processing by the sensory register, processing in short term memory, and storage in long term memory. Information processed by the sensory register is all the information you take in through any of your senses. New incoming data such as visual or auditory information takes less than one second to be processed here. This involves all the incoming neurons from your eyes and ears through the intervening neural pathways on the way to higher levels of the brain. This processing is at a very basic level.
Information goes next to short term memory where it remains for about 20-25 seconds. Very little information can be stored here at one time. Data stored here which is repeated, rehearsed, and related to knowledge stored in long-term memory is retained. Otherwise it is lost.
Finally, long term memory consists of a completed set of experience and knowledge. It is structured and organized and the existing structures greatly affect how and if new data will be included in long term memory. New structures in long term memory can be introduced by you when you organize knowledge on your own so that you can remember it. Structures can also be introduced by outside forces: teachers, other students, life experiences, and so forth.
This organization of long-term memory is one reason we went through the material of the course the way we did. I wanted to introduce the research process as one that follows the flow of how information as it is produced. This is a structure I think is easy to understand and easy to follow so that you can keep it in mind and have an orderly research process to organize your knowledge around.
a. Define the problem (this can be simple or complex depending on how ill defined the problem is)
b. Develop and conduct a strategy to solve the problem
c. Assess your efforts and feed back information into the loop to change the strategy if the problem is not completely solved
People have natural tendencies they follow in solving problems and one of the things that affects these tendencies is whether you are a right-brain thinker or left-brain thinker. Right-brain thinkers are creative thinkers, don't follow straight lines in their problem solving, and tend to bring in information from unrelated areas.
Left-handed people tend to be extremely right-brained because the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body. Here are a few words that help describe right-brained thinking: intuitive, spontaneous, emotional, nonverbal, visual, artistic, holistic, playful, diffuse, symbolic. Musician, artists, and athletes tend to be right-brained.
Left-brain thinkers are logical thinkers, tend to run in a straight line from problem to solution without being distracted by outside influences. Some words that describe left-brain thinkers are: positive, analytical, linear, explicit, sequential, verbal, concrete, rational, active, goal-oriented. Lawyers, mathematicians, and accountants tend to be left-brained.
Orchestrated thinkers use both sides of their brains in unison and have learned to address problems in both ways, depending on the problem at hand, even if their strengths tend to lie with right-brain or left-brain thinking. They tend to think metacognitively, that is, they have the ability to think abstractly and control their thought processes and how they are learning, thinking, and problem-solving. They don't just do one thing because that is the only thing they know how to do.
If you find that you usually think in an extremely right-brained or left-brained manner, you might want to try thinking metacognitively when you are faced with a problem. If you are left-brained and run into a problem you can't solve, try imagining what a right-brained person would do and vice versa. This will help you think in a more orchestrated fashion and perhaps discover new and creative ways to solve your problems.