James Leighton-Burns

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James Leighton-Burns

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Travelled the world a number of times with media commissions.
Deep dived study into human behaviour.
Working on written projects.
Family adventures.
Help when help is required.
Has run a few races when there is time, mostly over hills, or peddle here and there.

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All projects have copyright. Copies are backed up in numerous copyright vaults in different territories.

© James Leighton-Burns ™. All rights reserved 2025

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Human Behaviour Education

“Consideration for the who, what, why, when and how.”

Ongoing Study - Open-Source Approach to Human Behaviour Education

Completed -
James Leighton-Burns MACCPH
Psychodynamic Counselling
CBT for Adult ADHD, turn intentions into actions - J.Russell Ramsay PhD, ABPP
Advanced Psychology Counselling ACCPH - Awarded
Psychology L4 - Oxford Uni - Awarded - Dr Anna Scarnà. (UK)
CSTF Safeguarding Adults - Level 3 - MTG
Elmira Strange MPhil Dip - CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY: Crime & Personality Disorders
Domestic Abuse - SafeLives
D.A.S.H. - SafeLives
Margit Averdijk, Ph.D. - Criminal Psychology Fundamentals
Suicide Awareness Training - ZSA
ACEs, Complex Trauma, and Toxic Stress: Implications for Affect, Behaviour, Cognition, and Physical Health - Awarded
- Jerrod Brown, PhD. (ACEs = Adverse Childhood Experiences)
The Overlap between Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Psychopathy - Awarded - With Carrie Barron MD.
Triarchic Model of Psychopathy - What is Psychopathy? - Awarded - Christopher J. Patrick PhD
The Development of Conduct Disorder and Aggression - Psychopathy - Awarded - Abigail Marsh PhD
Correctional Mental Health - Awarded - Virginia Barber Rioja, PhD, and Ashley Batastini, PhD
Introduction - OSINT
Writer and Hero P.O.V. - BookFox
Ultimate Guide to Writing Dialogue - BookFox
Revision Genius: Self-Editing Your Novel - BookFox
The Triangle Method of Character Creation - BookFox
Splendid Sentence - BookFox
Data Journalism - Countering Hate Speech
Investigative Journalism - NCTJ
Safety and resilience for journalists - NCTJ

© James Leighton-Burns ™. All rights reserved 2025

Ongoing over time, between projects, related to research -
Private investigation
Writing
Psychology of Criminal Profiling
Social Isolation and Loneliness Training - ZSA
OSINT
Criminology with Professor David Wilson
Margit Averdijk, Ph.D. - Introduction to Criminology: Explaining Crime
CFJ - Foundation Journalism- NCTJ
Court reporting restrictions- NCTJ
IPSO - NCTJ
Delivering Parenting Skills with Artificial Intelligence - Eduardo Bunge PhD.

Human Behaviour Research Notes

Creating characters for stories? Art imitating life, for the art on the page or on screen that could influence life? Do the research when creating antagonists and protagonists. There may be only seven stories to tell, but what if society has changed in the future? How do we reference 'change' hundreds of years from now? Use a timeline and reference the core.

Research for educational purposes only. Insight for further study, which can change over time as science offers references. The brief notes can be linked to character development or building characters from the core outward.

Which part of the brain processes guilt, shame and empathy?Moral emotions, pro-social, what happens internally when someone is harming other people's perceptions, narratives, livelihood, networks, at any expense? Parts of the brain are not functioning. Moral emotions start as early as age two; if something were to coincide with various important developmental stages, brain function can be compromised or defined by genetic biases.The reaction to actions and memories that are related to harming others will have a reaction internally and externally. Another pattern of behaviours linking back to the primary issue, which is attempted to be suppressed. Too much or too little can give away which types of survival tools the deceptive person uses.A need not to reframe can be linked to an incapacity for growth. Empathy - hardwired or learned skill - for bystanders experiencing or observing - may require education to further note that not everyone has pro-social emotions. Charmed or masked actions and statements give it away in clusters, patterns, habits and a lack of boundary and parameter awareness over a period of time. The attempts to maintain a formulated public persona while operating differently behind closed doors are a red flag when it comes to harming or attempting to control other people's perception or situation to maintain bias to themselves at any expense. Detachment has a pattern and process; a pathological liar lies to themselves before they lie to others. The second red flag is the levels of detachment to maintain a false narrative. What is classed as toxic or antisocial behaviour? Anything linked to harming others psychologically or physically, either under the radar over time, or overt in assumed non-existent personal space abuse. How does a person who uses D.A.R.V.O. counter-narratives, gossip/smear, blame shift, deflection, patherlogical lying to stay under the radar or without growth?By simply performing the actions mentioned, malignant charm is a layer on top to brush past accountability. Giving themselves away twice. Fact-check the reality distortions to avoid processing externally to see how the function internally. The child's mind, in terms of growth and awareness, is still present. A teenager who has been a teenager for 40 years is simply putting it under a mask that slips. They rely on others to take matters on a convincing face value, and accept words only with a need to sign off on a performance with acceptance. If others accept the lie, then they don't need to process. The type who is 100% detached from the outcome of their behaviour?. Create an exit plan; it's a red flag that will soon surface with the control issues doubling down. Another giveaway linking back to the primary. If empathetic, learn there is a science linked to human behaviour that a pathological liar cannot escape from inside their go-to reality distion... their own brain structure chemistry, no matter how they try to hide a harmful or biased narrative.The science - brain activation areas or lack of:Guilt - Anterior insula, dACC, TPJ, vmPFC, dmPFC, anterior temporal lobe, amygdalaShame - Anterior insula, dACC, dlPFC, posterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, anterior temporal lobe.Empathy - vmPFC, dmPFC, TPJ, superior temporal sulcus, inferior frontal gyrus, amygdala.The anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) are activated during both guilt and shame. These regions govern emotional awareness, arousal, and social pain processing.Guilt specifically involves the left temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), crucial for understanding others' mental states, and is often linked with empathy.Shame is more associated with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) and posterior cingulate cortex, including self-representation and regulation tasks.Both guilt and shame have overlapping activity in the medial and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), anterior temporal lobe, and amygdala.The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) processes empathy as well as shame, compassion, and guilt. Damage here can reduce capacity for these complex social emotions.Empathy involves the superior temporal and inferior frontal areas, limbic system structures (such as the amygdala), and the medial prefrontal cortex.The TPJ and dmPFC—regions also recruited during guilt—help differentiate self from others and understand others’ emotions.These regions work together to allow individuals to experience moral emotions and social connection, underlying the unique human capacities for empathy, guilt, and shame.Shared Brain ActivityBoth embarrassment and shame engage the left anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, associated with emotional awareness, arousal, and social pain.These emotions also show activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus and anterior temporal lobe, supporting social cognition and self-consciousness.Shame-Specific FeaturesShame is linked to greater activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), posterior cingulate cortex, sensory-motor cortex, and parahippocampal gyrus. These regions support deeper self-evaluation, self-representation, and withdrawal responses.Increased motor and speech inhibition appears in shame, reflecting a tendency to hide or reduce social presence.

© James Leighton-Burns ™. All rights reserved 2025

Embarrassment-Specific FeaturesEmbarrassment shows more activation in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC), amygdala, and occipital regions. The amygdala involvement points to heightened emotional reactivity and sensitivity to social scrutiny.The right temporal cortex and hippocampus are also more strongly activated, linking embarrassment to complex self-conscious processing and memory.The premotor cortex plays a significant role in behavioural inhibition during experiences of shame. When individuals feel shame, the right premotor area becomes more active, along with regions such as the anterior insula and the inferior frontal gyrus.The premotor cortex is part of a broader network activated by shame that also includes the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and thalamus, all linked to social pain and withdrawal tendencies.In neuroimaging studies, shame and embarrassment uniquely trigger activation in the right premotor cortex, which is thought to be involved in inhibiting overt behaviours like speech and movement. This helps explain why shame can lead to a reduction of social presence—people may try to hide, remain still, or become less talkative.The activation of the premotor area during shameful experiences suggests the brain is preparing, or even initiating, unconscious motor scripts to minimise exposure, thus serving an adaptive social function by preventing further negative judgments from others.This inhibition is specific to shame and embarrassment and contrasts with guilt, which is more often associated with reparative or approach-oriented behaviours rather than withdrawal or movement suppression.Both shame and embarrassment activate neural regions associated with social pain—primarily the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), anterior insula, and thalamus—but shame generally produces more intense and enduring social pain responses.Shame consistently activates the dACC, thalamus, and sensory-motor cortex, which together form the brain's social pain network. The dACC is crucial for processing experiences of exclusion, rejection, or humiliation.This activation leads to deep feelings of worthlessness or inferiority and more persistent social withdrawal.Shame is often more “painful,” harder to recognise, and provokes longer-lasting behavioural inhibition than embarrassment.

Shame vs Guilt Psychology: What Science Reveals About Your EmotionsEmpathy is hard-wired into the mind, study finds
"The ventromedial prefrontal cortex processes feelings of empathy, shame, compassion and guilt. Damage to this part of the brain, which occupies a small region in the forehead, causes a diminished capacity for social emotions but leaves logical reasoning intact."Feelings of shame, embarrassment and guilt and their neural correlates: A systematic reviewThe Neural Signatures of Shame, Embarrassment, and Guilt: A Voxel-Based Meta-Analysis on Functional Neuroimaging StudiesNeurobiological underpinnings of shame and guilt: a pilot fMRI studyThe Neural Signatures of Shame, Embarrassment, and Guilt: A Voxel-Based Meta-Analysis on Functional Neuroimaging StudiesFrom cognition to compensation: Neurocomputational mechanisms of guilt-driven and shame-driven altruistic behaviour

If biased habits, morally bankrupt actions and statements exist, contrasting behaviour patterns, a lack of growth, odd behaviour, zero empathy when a desired goal is achieved at any expense, followed by a priority cover-up, uses human beings twice, unable to process and accept feedback, change or understand the unspoken moral awareness others humans assume everyone has.... You could be dealing with a brain that doesn't activate or have a pro-social neural network. They could have manipulation skills through having less and compensating with other actions, victimhood (faking a victim is not off limits to a manipulative person who blameshifts away from their actions), a need to be above, or be seen as something with not effect applied, keep others back, be stimulated by other people's pain or suffering, step back and review, the core has the answers while the external has tthe learnt camoflague for what is not genuinley felt. Internal reality distortions, assuming other humans need to go along with at any expense, isn't purpose or validating human nature, it's something else if malicious/malignant actions and statements are noted over time.Try researching how many cognitive biases there are, maybe 20 plus?How valuable is consideration, empathy and tolerance? That depends on the person and what they assume they are capable of. What choices they choose to make and what values they formulate at any expense. A moral code without compromise can be genetic, learnt and lived through with growth over time. Naturally or consciously aware of 'you, me and the situation' that succeeds in an unspoken, organic connecting manner. Deep connection goes deep if it's genuine. Corner-cutting and cover-up in development is a concern. Parental duty to help childhood growth goes beyond sharing values. Conversation, hugs and high fives, balance, processing, reflection, practice, accountability, and love. With it, something else can happen; bias makes bias, as bias only knows what it knows.

Recap: Creating characters for stories - Art imitating life, placed on the page or on screen which could influence life. A responsibility. Do the research first when creating certain antagonists and protagonists. There may be only seven stories to tell, but what if society has changed in the future? How do we reference 'change' hundreds of years from now? Look at the past, look at the present, then write. Some things never appear to change, while some things grow fast and reshape what has gone before. With either a little help from technology or reflection, and a deep neural connection. Emotional intelligence is a key element, along with experience, that can build a good character foundation on either side of the coin. If nature flips the coin, the protagonist needs to be ready. Will a synthetic mind do the same as what has come before? It depends on who creates it and what capacity it could be.

Exceptional Individuals - Online Neurodiversity Tests
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© James Leighton-Burns ™. All rights reserved 2025

Book List - Pt 1 - Story Drama & Research

Completed and appreciated, ongoing, or flick through for research snippets. All have valuable insight.

Red Rising - Pierce BrownThe Shining - Steven KingKilling Floor (Jack Reacher, Book 1) - Lee ChildDie Trying (Jack Reacher, Book 2) - Lee ChildRaylan - Elmore LeonardOut of Sight - Elmore LeonardBatman: The Dark Knight Returns 30th Anniversary Edition - Frank MillerBatman: Year One - Frank MillerTell No One - Harlan CobenErnest Hemingway Best Collection: The Old Man and The Sea, The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell TollsThe Friends of Eddie Coyle - George V. HigginsJaws - Peter BenchleyThe Lonely Silver Rain - John D. McDonaldEye of the Needle - Ken FollettCarrie - Steven KingThe Great Gatsby - F. Scott FitzgeraldSaga Volume 1 (SAGA TP) - Brian K VaughanIan M. BanksWilliam GibsonThe Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway

© James Leighton-Burns ™. All rights reserved 2025

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Story Drama Insight:Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage and Screen - Robert MckeeCharacter: The Art of Role and Cast Design for Page, Stage and Screen - Robert MckeeStory - Robert MckeeAction: The Art of Excitement for Screen, Page and Game - Robert MckeeOn Writing - Steven KingThe Elements of Style - William Strunk JR & E.B. WhiteThe 90 Day Novel - Alan WattDan O'Bannon's Guide to Screenplay Structure - Dan O'Bannon'sThe Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows - John KoenigThe Creative Act: A Way of Being - Rick RubinInto The Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them - John YorkeElmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing - Elmore LeonardThe Art of Fiction - David LodgeHow Novels Work - John MullanCreative Writing: A Workbook with Readings - Linda AndersonAdventures In The Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood - William GoldmanMonster: Living Off the Big Screen - John Gregory Dunne

The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller - John TrubyMaking Movies - Sidney LumetScreenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting - Syd FieldThe Penguin Guide to Punctuation - R L TraskHow Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make - Denny Martin FlinnLantana: Screenplay - Andrew BovellThe Hero with A Thousand Faces - Joseph CampbellThe Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories - Christopher BookerThe War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles - Steven PressfieldSave the Cat! - Blake SnyderThe Dark Knight Trilogy - Christopher NolanMy Inventions - The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla - Nikola TeslaThe Peregrine - J A BakerChariots of the Gods - Erich von DanikenRefuse to Be Done - Matt Bell

Book List - Pt 2 - Psychology & Philosophy

Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour 8th Edition - Richard GrossAtkinson And Hilgards Introduction To Psychology - Susan Nolen-HoeksemaSix-Minute X-Ray: Rapid Behaviour Profiling - Chase HughesThe Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der KolkSapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah HarariWhat Every BODY is Saying - Joe NavarroThe Daily Stoic - Ryan HolidayLying - Sam HarrisJefferson Fisher - The Next ConversationIt Didn't Start With You - Mark WolynnThe Laws of Human Nature - Robert GreeneThe Four Agreements - Don Miguel RuizInfluence, New and Expanded - Robert B. CialdiniAdult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents - Lindsay C. GibsonUnderstanding Human Nature - Alfred AdlerSupercommunicators - Charles DuhiggGreenlights - Matthew McConaugheyRich Dad Poor Dad - Robert T. KiyosakiThe Power of Habit - Charles DuhiggLiespotting - Pamela Meyer

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In Sheep's Clothing - George K Simon PH DThe Psychology of Money - Morgan HouselSame as Ever - Morgan HouselBrainwashing: The Science of Thought Control - Kathleen TaylorTruths, Half Truths and Little White Lies - Nick FrostPersonality - Daniel NettlePsychology First - Barbara WoodsTelling Lies - Paul EkmanHow to Stop Lying: The Ultimate Cure Guide for Pathological Liars - Caesar LincolnPolice Detective Constable Direct Entry - How2BecomeDont Die Young An Anatomists Guide to Your Organs & Your Health - Dr. Alice RobertsThe Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry - Jon RonsonIntroducing Freud - Richard AppignanesiIntroducing Psychology - Nigel BensonIntroducing Philosophy - Dave RobinsonIntroducing Logic - Bill MayblinIntroducing Chaos - Iwona AbramsMere Humanity - Donald T. WilliamsThe Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark MansonIntroducing Consciousness - David PapineauIntroducing Statistics - Eileen MagnelloIntroducing Melanie Klein - R. D. Hinshelwood

Range - David EpsteinWhy We Sleep - Matthew WalkerThe Truth About Lying - Stan B. WaltersEmotions Revealed - Prof Paul EkmanPersonality Types - Don Richard RisoBounce - Matthew SyedThe Blue Zones - Dan Buettner12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos - Jordan B. PetersonBeyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life - Jordan B. PetersonGiant Steps - Anthony RobbinsUnlimited Power - Anthony RobbinsMaps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief - Jordan B. Peterson (50%)The Prince - Niccolo MachiavelliNarcissism: Enter the Mind of a Narcissist - Clarence T. Rivers

Personality Disorders & Mental Illnesses - Clarence T. RiversHigh Risk: Children Without A Conscience - Ken MagidOutsmarting the Sociopath Next Door - Martha StoutConfessions of a Sociopath - M. E. Thomas48 Laws of Power - Robert GreeneGet the Truth: Former CIA Officers - Michael FloydInferno: From The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighier

Masterclasses

Masterclass & Maestro

© James Leighton-Burns ™. All rights reserved 2025

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Harlan CobenLee ChildAaron SorkinDan BrownDavid MametJames PattersonMargret AtwoodShonda RhimesR.L. StineMalcolm GladwellDavid BaldacciJudy BlumeJoyce Carol OatesJudd ApatowKen FollettJed MercurioJames CameronDavid LynchSpike Lee

Jodei FosterWerner HerzogKen BurnsMartin ScorceseRon HowardThe Duffer BrothersSamuel JacksonHelen MirrenNatalie PortmanBrian CoxEdgar WrightAlicia KeysSt VincentDanny ElfmanHerbie HandcockHans ZimmerNasTimbland