Look up and down before you cross: social hierarchies and their impact on decision-making

by Hayley Cheok “An organisation is like a tree full of monkeys, all on different limbs at different levels. Some monkeys are climbing up, some down. The monkeys on top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. The monkeys on the bottom look up and see nothing but butts.” – Unknown From school to work, food pyramids to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs… we are constantly navigating hierarchies in our lives. In particular, social hierarchies are pervasive in our society and lucky for us – because we are fantastic at forming and navigating them. Social hierarchies simplify the complex … Continue reading Look up and down before you cross: social hierarchies and their impact on decision-making

Just do it, or maybe not: do brand logos affect your spending habits?

by Hayley Cheok Let’s start with a game – how many of these logos do you recognise? How many did you get right?  As you can see, well-designed brand logos hold immense power. They serve as strong ambassadors for brands – conveying attitudes, shaping reputations and perceptions, as well as influencing purchasing decisions…  often without any words [1,2]. Logos transcend mere marketing too – they can become cultural monuments that land on gag gifts perfect for your friends. So, it is not surprising that a decent chunk of marketing budgets go towards creating a damn good logo. But beyond aesthetic … Continue reading Just do it, or maybe not: do brand logos affect your spending habits?

Lack of motivation? Fear of punishment? Why are we procrastinating?

by Leyuan.Zang “I have to finish my work in 24 hours because I spend much of the time in playing video games or watching soap opera”. “I would rather lie in bed and waste my time than write my paper.” These situations are too familiar for us and the origin of them is same. Obnoxious procrastination ruins everything. But the most frustrating thing is that we all know the harm of procrastination, but we do seldom work to change. In other words, we always struggle before every deadline. So, we want to know what exactly causes our procrastination. Negative stimuli … Continue reading Lack of motivation? Fear of punishment? Why are we procrastinating?

How We Segment Events into Memories

Before we dive into the neurological and cognitive aspects memories and events, let’s experience the topic of interest ourselves. I’d like you to take a few moments to remember exactly everything you have done today. Try to recall today, in detail, as a free flow of events, activities, feelings, thoughts, smells… spend a few moments trying this before you move one. Have you done it? I would imagine that you had great difficulty. Our brains have been built to process continuous conscious experiences as chucks of episodes when coded into our memory. This, instead of the free-flowing way in which … Continue reading How We Segment Events into Memories