According to the video on the learning wiki website, from a cognitivist point of view, people want to know what is going on in between the stimulus and the response, and that a person’s internal representations influence their behaviour. He referred to Piaget and the two cognitive processes that people use when placed into a certain context. The two processes were assimilation and accommodation. We attempt to make sense of the context, and if necessary, modify our behaviour to suit the context. For example, if we are attending a job interview, we would not act the way we would were we at a football match, with the screaming and yelling.  

One concept that I found interesting was the notion that educators can’t force change or learning on a student, but must encourage and facilitate the learner to do something differently. Cognitivism believes that people have an intrinsic motivation to learn about what is going on around them, and that extrinsic motivation can undermine or derail the learning process. I found that there have been many times during high school where teachers would use negative reinforcements, such as detentions, in an attempt to make students learn about a certain topic. But if a student does not have an interest in the topic, or they have negative mental interpretations about the topic, then learning will not occur, or only so to a limited degree.

An example in the video was given about a bunch of students using markers to draw, and how the level of interest and motivation to draw diminished once students stopped being paid to undertake the activity. I can sort of relate to this but not in an educational context. At work, employees are required to clean trays used for our products. I find that the method other employees use wastes a lot of water and so I encourage them not to wash the trays, suggesting I will do them. I soon began to enjoy this task, as it was a simple task where thinking was not required and was done voluntarily. However, there have been shifts where I am told I must do the trays and by a certain time. I find that in these instances, I am not motivated to do so and it takes a long time to complete the task. Whereas when I did it voluntarily, I was more motivated, enjoyed the process, and did a more productive job.   

After reading that, in relation to the cognitivist approach, I find it funny how the task I enjoy the most is one that does not require the individual to know what is going on in between the stimulus and the response i.e. me cleaning the trays. Not much thinking is required to complete this task. Very relaxing.

http://www.learningwiki.com/theory