Interplay between Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Processes: Review, Implications, and Directions

There is a voluminous body of research studies that detail, in totality, the combined positive effects of cognitive and non-cognitive processes in learning (e.g., Elliot, McGregor, & Gable, 1999; Fenollar, Roman, & Cuestas, 2007; Liem, Lau, & Nie, 2008). Quantitatively, for example, there is evidence arising from causal modeling procedures to show the intricacy of learning and students' adaptive behaviors in various educational levels. This line of inquiry (e.g., cognitive influence of a performance-approach goal orientation) has important implications, theoretically and for applied teaching practices. Consequently, arising from this acknowledgment, we introduce in this chapter an overview of three major psychological orientations: personal self-efficacy, student approaches to learning, and reflective thinking practice. Our synthesis of the literature, in particular, scopes the nature and interrelations between the three mentioned constructs. This review of the literature provides a basis for us, in the latter section of the chapter, to articulate a hierarchical model for research development. We attempt to situate this multi-level conceptualization within various psychosocial layers of society: the community, the family, and the individual (Bronfenbrenner, 1989; Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1985).