Meet our Psychology Faculty

Prior to joining The University of Law, Julie was a Reader and programme lead at The University of Bolton. Julie has experience in the design and delivery of psychology programmes.

In addition to her leadership role at The University of Law, Julie is co-editor of the Mental Health and Social Inclusion journal, on the Education Advisory Board for the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling and section editor for JMIR Mental Health.

Julie’s research looks at how digital innovations can support mental health, with a focus in the area of online counselling, VR, computer games and mobile apps. Her recent research is considering how AI can be utilised to support students teaching and learning as well as support mental health.

Julie has published over 160 peer-reviewed articles, books, book chapters, reports and research presentations. For a full list of publications visit her profile on research gate, a sample of her publications is listed below. 

Books Published:

• Digital Technologies and Positive Psychology (Positive Psychology in Practice). Barnes, S., & Prescott, J. (2024) Emerald, London.
• A New App for Identity Structure Analysis and Professional Development. Passmore, G., & Prescott, J. (2022). Palgrave; London. 
• Digital innovations in mental health. Prescott, J. (2022). IGI Global. Hershey, Pennsylvania. 
• Identity Structure Analysis: A new approach to mentorship and teacher turnover. Passmore, G., Prescott, J., & Turner, A. (2019). Palgrave; London 
• Handbook of Research on Race, Gender, and the Fight for Equality. Prescott, J. (2016). IGI Global. Hershey, Pennsylvania.   
• Gender Considerations and Influence in the Digital Media and Gaming Industry. Prescott, J., & McGurren, J.E (Eds) (2014). IGI Global. Hershey, Pennsylvania. 
• Gender Divide and the Computer Gaming Industry. Prescott, J., & Bogg, J. (2014). IGI Global. Hershey, Pennsylvania. 
• Gendered Occupational Differences in Science, Engineering, and Technology Careers. Prescott, J., & Bogg, J. (2012). IGI Global. Hershey, Pennsylvania. 

Joanne has taught Psychology at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and more recently she has led collaborative health professions courses. This involved teaching students who were pursuing health careers such as nursing, social work and occupational therapy. She has also mentored student teachers.

Joanne’s main research interest lies in health and wellbeing, both in applied settings and everyday life. She has also done research related to educational settings and is keen to explore potential gender differences in experiences. She has also published related work which emphasised the therapeutic potential of the school environment to promote wellbeing for staff (this paper received an Emerald Literati Award). 

For her PhD, Joanne combined her interests and explored motivation, stress and job satisfaction in the teaching profession.

Passionate about how Psychology can be applied to understand health and wellbeing, Joanne is fascinated in how this relates to the lived experience and its wider domains.

Example publications:

• Vaughan, J., Boduszek, D., & Rodriguez, A, M. (2018). 'The secondary school as a therapeutic community', Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities. 39 (3), 109-117. 
• Tobbell, J., Boduszek, D., Kola-Palmer, S., Vaughan, J., & Hargreaves, J. (2018). 'Evaluating service user pedagogy in UK higher education: Validating the Huddersfield Service User Pedagogy Scale', Nurse Education Today. 63, 81-86. 
• Vaughan, J., Boduszek, D., & Rodriguez, A. (2015). 'Factors influencing subject selection in upper secondary education (Key Stage 4) for males and females in England'. Current Issues in Personality Psychology. 3 (3), 1-12. 

Mark’s area of research and study is the science of personal development. Of particular interest is how we set goals, reflect on our performance whilst considering feedback. These ideas feed in to how we manage ourselves on goal related tasks and how we develop as lifelong learners.

Before returning to undergraduate education, Mark was a Senior Manager in a Local Authority which sparked his interest in the science of personal and professional development. Moving on to study Applied Psychology at undergraduate level, Mark’s research project focused on his area of passion - personality and individual differences in relation to learning. Developing this through Mark’s doctoral studies his PhD project focused on how individuals self-manage during learning, either in education or the workplace.

Mark’s research interests are strongly influenced by individual differences, particularly in self-regulatory behaviours that promote successful learning outcomes, that also support them in graduate careers. Mark continues to research in the area of feedback literacy, working alongside colleagues internationally to develop survey instruments about attitudes to feedback and goals. He continues research partnerships with The University of Liverpool Dental school and has a keen interest in the area of psychometrics. 

Example publications: 

• Smith, P. M., Bowles, J., Jellicoe, M., Mathur, M., Molyneux, L., Randell L. A., Smith, R. N., & Valappil, S. P. (2023). Introducing open-book examinations in clinical education: A case study. Developing Academic Practice, 2023(Special), 71-81. 
• Gartshore, L., Bowles, J., Jellicoe, M., Burnside, G., Dawson, L.J. & Bissell, V., (2022) Online Unproctored Clinical Examinations: The Perceptions and Performance of Final Year Dental Students. Dentistry Journal, 10(11), 200.
• Roberts, A., Jellicoe, M., & Fox, K. (2021). How does a move towards a coaching approach impact the delivery of written feedback in undergraduate clinical education? Advances in Health Sciences Education, 1-15. 

Jonny’s research specialism is addressing factors that affect bystander intervention into sexual violence.

With a passion for Forensic Psychology born from a childhood of reading comics and watching Star Wars, Jonny has always been fascinated by what makes the villain a villain. This led him to pursue a path where he could make a positive contribution to the world. Between his MSc and PhD Jonny worked with sexual offenders at HMYOI Wetherby. He often found these to be the most interesting young people to work with, in order to discover more about the prevention of sexual violence.

Jonny’s research interest is addressing how different factors impact bystander intervention into sexual violence, most prominently, alcohol. Using a mixed methods approach to examine whether these factors have an impact on a bystander’s intervention behaviour, and if so, how. 

Publications: 

• Macklin, A., Noret, N., Douglass, M., Hillyard, S., & Dudley, J. (2021). Does knowledge matter? The relationship between awareness of sexual violence and bystander self-efficacy. American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 39 (4).

A lecturer in Psychology for more than 15 years, Lizzie’s PhD was conducted at UCL followed by posts at the University of Derby and University of Leicester.

Lizzie’s research interests have included understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the retrieval of emotional information through a cognitive neuroscience approach (fMRI, ERP). In recently funded research Lizzie has investigated gender imbalance in Undergraduate Psychology and the transition between school and Higher Education in Psychology.

More recently Lizzie has developed a keen interested in pedagogic research and in enhancing teaching practice through exploring the effect of contemporary technology use to innovate teaching delivery and assessment/feedback (and its resulting impact on student achievement and engagement).

Professionally Lizzie has participated in academic consultancy and public sector engagement (including media liaising) among other posts. Her four-legged friend, Labrador JB, currently volunteers alongside her in Pets as Therapy (PAT dog) placements.

Example publications:

• Maratos, E.J., and Rugg, M.D., (2001). Electrophysiological correlates of the retrieval of emotional and non-emotional context. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 13 (7), 877-91. *1660
• Maratos, E.J., Dolan, R.J., Morris, JS, Henson, R, Rugg, M.D., (2001). Neural activity associated with episodic memory for emotional context. Neuropsychologia, 910(1), 910-920. *445
• Maratos, E.J., Allan, K., & Rugg, M.D. (2000). Recognition memory for emotionally negative and neutral words: an ERP Study. Neuropsychologia, 38(11), 1452-1465. *293

Rosalind’s research interests and area of studies lie in Neuropsychology and Mental Health. Her fascination with neuropsychology and behaviour started with A-Level Psychology, where she learnt about cases such as Phineas Gage and H.M.

Rosalind has taught Psychology at undergraduate and postgraduate level and has an undergraduate degree in Neuropsychology, from the University of Central Lancashire. Her research project investigated language lateralisation using functional transcranial Doppler sonography.

After her degree she worked as a brain imaging lab assistant at the university before moving onto her PhD, for which she used mixed methods to investigate resilience, anxiety and executive functioning in adults with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, to help provide recommendations for intervention research.

Most recent publications: 

Pate, R., Caswell, N., Gardner, K.J., Holyoak, L. (2022). A structural equation model in adults with type 1 and 2 diabetes: exploring the interplay of psychological states and diabetes outcomes, and the mediating effect of resilience. Acta Diabetologica 59, 1575–1587.

Having previously held senior academic positions at various universities across the Northwest of England, Tara’s dedication to teaching and supporting others in their teaching practice has earned her the title of Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Authority (SFHEA). Tara is also a Chartered member (DARTP) and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (AFBPsS), recognising her extensive experience and contributions to the field of psychology.

An active researcher, Tara welcomes collaboration and knowledge exchange with local, national, and international organisations in the following areas: school bullying, pre-school bullying, bullying in further and higher education, speciesism, moral expansiveness, and best practice in pedagogy. Tara employs a progressive mixed-methods approach to research with a focus on achieving impact in these areas.

Most recent publications: 

• James, L., & Chandler, T. (2023). The Influence of an Elevated Social Rank on Prosocial Behaviour in an Early Childhood, Outsider Population: Towards a Reduction in Bullying Perpetration. International Journal of Bullying Prevention, 1-8.
• Barnes, S., Chandler, T., & Granda-Salazar, M. (2023). Help over harm: practical and ethical considerations for the evaluation and deployment of therapeutic games. Mental Health and Social Inclusion, 27(2), 133-139.
• Hehir, E., Zeller, M., Luckhurst, J., & Chandler, T. (2021). Developing student connectedness under remote learning using digital resources: A systematic review. Education and information technologies, 26(5), 6531-6548.
• For a full list of publications visit Tara’s profile on research gate.

Having completed her PhD at King’s College London, Natasha’s focus was on characterising early developmental trajectories of infants with a rare genetic disorder and early-onset epilepsy. During this time, Natasha taught modules on the Psychology undergraduate programme, including Early Neurocognitive Development.

Graduating with a BSc in Psychology from the University of Sussex, Natasha completed a research placement at UCL on a longitudinal study of children with an intellectual disability due to a chromosomal disorder. This helped to spark her fascination with the genomic and environmental factors that contribute to neurodevelopmental outcomes, such as autism and ADHD. Before her PhD Natasha worked in a Clinical Audit team at the Royal College of Psychiatrists and as a Research Assistant at KCL, where she became a trained autism diagnostic assessor and gained skills in remote EEG and eye tracking systems.

Natasha was awarded the Vicky H Whittemore prize in 2023 for her work on behavioural phenotypes in infants diagnosed with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex.  

Most recent publications:

• Lindsay, N., Martin, J., Adegboye, D., Absoud, M., Charman, T., & Tye, C. (2024). Impact of and research priorities in early onset epilepsy: An investigation of parental concerns. Epilepsy & Behavior, 156, 109794.
• Lindsay, N., Runicles, A., Johnson, M. H., Jones, E. J., Bolton, P. F., Charman, T., & Tye, C. (2024). Early development and epilepsy in tuberous sclerosis complex: A prospective longitudinal study. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 66(5), 635-643.
• Williams, R., Farquharson, L., Rhodes, E., Dang, M., Lindsay, N., Quirk, A., ... & Crawford, M. J. (2020). Variation in clinical care associated with weekend admission and discharge in psychiatric in-patient units: retrospective case-note review. BJPsych Open, 6(5), e103.

Patrick’s enthusiasm for Psychology comes from the desire to understand the complexities of human function, turning this information into therapeutic solutions to help improve the quality of life of patients. Having previously worked at De Montfort University as a Psychology Technician, Patrick has developed extensive experience of using key Psychology software and equipment.

Of particular interest to Patrick is the plasticity of the brain and how it can adapt to overcome damage and/or disease and maintain cognitive functions despite trauma. He has been involved in several Cognitive Psychology related lab studies for supporting research into the SNARC (Spatial Numerical Association of Response Codes) effect, and the study of reengaging motor regions using transcranial electrical stimulation and its effectiveness as a form of therapeutic intervention.

Publications: 

• Prpic, V., & Cullen, P. (2019). Does Visual Perspective Taking Influence the SNARC Effect? ESCoP 2019, Tenerife (Spain), Leuven (Belgium) and Trieste (Italy).

Prior to joining us as a Psychology Technician, Ryan was a researcher at the University of Greenwich, investigating the individual differences in human face and voice recognition ability. With a background in Forensic Psychology, Ryan turned his interest to applied cognitive psychology in how humans possessing exceptional face and voice recognition abilities could be used to make an impact in the real-world, such as in the police.

As a former Psychology Technician at De Montfort University and during his time as a researcher at the University of Greenwich, Ryan developed a passion for supporting psychology staff and students build complex cognitive tasks on specialised software to conduct their own fascinating research. From this, Ryan developed the essential skills and experiences required to support all Psychology disciplines.

Most recent publications: 

• Jenkins, R.E., Tsermentseli, S., Monks, C.P., Robertson, D.J., Stevenage, S.V., Symons, A.E., & Davis, J.P. (2021). Are super-face-recognisers also super-voice-recognisers? Evidence from cross-modal identification tasks. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 35(1), 590-605.
• Kalocsányiová, E., Bîlici, N., Jenkins, R., Obojka, M., & Samuk Carignani, S. (2022). What works to facilitate displaced and refugeebackground students’ access and participation in European higher education: results from a multilingual systematic review. Educational Review, 76(6), 1722-1743.

Ritchie, K.L., Carragher, D.J., Davis, J.P., Read, K., Jenkins, R.E., Noyes, E., Gray, K.L.H., & Hancock, P.J.B. (2024) Face masks and fake masks: the effect of real and superimposed masks on face matching with super-recognisers, typical observers, and algorithms. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 9(5).

Prior to joining us here at The University of Law Bethany was an Administrative Officer at the University of Surrey in the Faculty of Health and Medical Science.

Bethany will be providing administrative support to colleagues here in the Psychology team as the courses grow, contributing to an outstanding student experience and ensuring administrative arrangements comply with the University’s academic cycle for each stage of the students’ journey.