Articles

What Childhood Play Teaches Us About Leadership and Empathy

Andrew Badham - 2026-06-02 09:01:31

Mention the phrase "corporate role-play" in a room full of professionals, and you will almost universally be met with collective groans. For many adult learners, role-playing exercises feel artificial, exposing, and deeply uncomfortable. Consequently, these exercises are often avoided or dismissed as a waste of time. However, developmental psychology offers an entirely different perspective. A landmark longitudinal study tracked children from the age of two up to age six, meticulously assessi... Read more

Why Sharp Thinkers Memorise Pathways, Not Content

Andrew Badham - 2026-06-02 08:52:54

The age-old proverb asserts that "it is not what you know, it is who you know." In the digital era, however, modern cognitive psychology is uncovering a fascinating extension to this rule: mapping who you know is precisely how your brain optimises its ability to access what they know. A recent study exploring digital networks and cognitive performance revealed that individuals with higher working memory capacities do not necessarily use their brainpower to absorb more raw data. Instead, they... Read more

Gaming, Focus, and the Cognitive Tipping Point

Andrew Badham - 2026-06-02 08:39:24

In modern discussions around digital wellness, video games are frequently vilified. Critics often claim that highly stimulating digital environments turn users into impulsive individuals with diminished attention spans. But does high-stimulation media cause poor self-regulation, or are individuals with pre-existing self-regulation challenges simply drawn to these environments? A compelling cognitive study sought to untangle this relationship. Researchers investigated how different tiers of ga... Read more

Why You Don't Go to Bed on Time: Bedtime Procrastination

Andrew Badham - 2026-06-02 08:24:08

We have all been there: the clock ticks past midnight, the body is exhausted, yet we find ourselves mindlessly scrolling through feeds or watching one more episode. It is easy to write this behaviour off as simple laziness or a lack of discipline. However, research published in the Journal of Health Psychology suggests that bedtime procrastination is not merely a character flaw—it is a complex symptom of how we manage our emotions and how our nervous system handles stress.   For... Read more

Beyond "Depressive Realism": The Science of Pessimistic Bias

Andrew Badham - 2026-04-16 11:14:15

For years, the "depressive realism" theory suggested that people with depression simply saw the world "as it is," while everyone else lived in an optimistic bubble. However, longitudinal research published in Behavior Research and Therapy suggests a more complex—and less accurate—reality.   The Asymmetry of Belief Updating The study tracked participants' predictions over three months and found that depressed individuals suffer from a specific belief-updating deficit.... Read more