The concepts of cognitive psychology can be fruitfully applied to real-world problems, but government must recognise that research takes time and is likely to spread across many different institutions.

That is the conclusion of an article in the British Journal of Psychology by Professor Alan Baddeley from the University of York. In it he reflects on his experience of over 40 years of combining basic and applied cognitive psychology research.

Professor Baddeley writes:

“The major problem is the mismatch of timescale. The government’s aim appears to be to reward specific departments for study conducted over limited period of time in that department, whereas, in my own case the study has typically extended over considerable intervals and involved many different institutions.”

He illustrates this point by talking about the development of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in the National Health Service:

“CBT has its roots in the animal-based research of Pavlov and Skinner, subsequently developed as behavioural techniques and applied to patients by psychologists such as Neal Miller and Hans Eysenck, with its broad cognitive component then introduced by Aaron Beck with being closer links to modern cognitive psychology being added by a wide range of research clinicians including my colleagues at the APU [Medical Research Council Applied Psychology Unit].”

In 2012 Alan Baddeley won our Lifetime Achievement Award.