This collection examines the many internal and external factors affecting cognitive processes.

Foreword Jerome Bruner; Introduction Shulamith Kreitler; Part I. Explanatory Concepts and Contexts: 1. The role of epistemic motivations in knowledge formation Arie W. Kruglanski and Anna Sheveland; 2. The structure and dynamics of cognitive orientation: a motivational approach to cognition Shulamith Kreitler; 3. Personality and cognition Phillip L. Ackerman; 4. Cognition in the context of psychopathology: a selective review Josef Zihl, Nicole Szesny and Thomas Nickel; 5. The impact of anxiety on cognitive performance Michael W. Eysenck; 6. Biological foundations: the SEEKING system as an affective source for motivation and cognition Jeff Stewart and Jaak Panksepp; 7. Motivation, cognition and emotion: a phylogenetic-interdisciplinary approach Manfred Wimmer; 8. The social and cultural context of cognition: a knowledge perspective Evelyn Au, Wendy Wan and Chi-yue Chiu; 9. Biological models of organisms and their evolutionary change: their importance for epistemology and different cultural traditions Karl Edlinger; 10. What do genes have to do with cognition? Wendy Johnson; 11. Brain, behavior and cognition Norbert Jausovec and Ksenija Jausovec; 12. Physical health and cognition Shulamith Kreitler, Kineret Weissler and Frida Barak; Part II. Domains of Cognition in Context: 13. Motivation, goals, thinking and problem solving K. J. Gilhooly and E. Fioratou; 14. Motivation and heuristic thinking Dan Zakay and Dida Fleisig; 15. Motivation, decision theory and human decision making Ola Svenson; 16. Cognitive science and knowledge management: reflecting the limits of decision making Rainer P. Born and Eva Gatarik; 17. Interest and cognition: the case of L- and science Ola Svenson; 18. Metacognition, motivation, and affect in the school context: metacognitive experiences in the regulation of learning Anastasia Efklides; 19. Motivation in language Klaus-Uwe Panther; 20. Intelligence and cognitive exceptionality Edward Ziegler; 21. How conscious thought, imagination and fantasy may relate to cognition and motivation Jerome L. Singer and Dorothy G. Singer; 22. Creativity and motivation Mark A. Runco and David McGarva; Index.