You say you are new to roadbiking but how new are you to cycling in general? Have you ever used MTBs or hybrid/comfort bikes with RapidFire shifters? If so then some of these operations are going to be similar. Assuming you have Tiagra or above level STI levers then the small lever is similar to the trigger (RapidFire+) or small button (RapidFire). Pushing it inboard activates it. For Sora shifters, there's a thumb-operated lever mounted on the inboard side of the hoods. The brake lever itself is also a shift lever and acts like the larger paddle of the RapidFires. Swinging the entire lever inboard will activate it. The right smaller lever (or thumb-shifter) will upshift the rear and the brake lever will downshift the rear. The left smaller lever will downshift the front chainring and brake lever will upshift the front chainring. I hope that clears things up. Try playing around with them on a flat quiet section of road or parking lot.