Julia is a Postdoctoral Research Associate and a Lecturer within the Department of Experimental Psychology at Oxford. In 2011, she completed her PhD for which she investigated the drive behind the development of inductive reasoning in children. Following this she was a Postdoctoral Researcher in a Family Assessment Service based at the Anna Freud Centre, working on the ‘What Happened Next’ project following up children who had gone through court proceedings. In 2013, she moved to Oxford.
Teaching
Julia teaches Harris Manchester undergraduates studying Experimental Psychology and Psychology and Philosophy. She also teaches on the Developmental Psychology option and Education and Psychology advanced option.
Research
Julia’s research focuses on the development of reasoning and the use of reasoning tests to identify those children underachieving relative to their academic potential.
There are a number of reasons why children may underachieve academically, such as reading or attentional difficulties; identifying and providing additional support for these children is a major focus of governmental strategies and educational policy as well as a being important for schools and parents. Reducing underachievement is a key step in school improvement and can help children improve their outcomes.
Julia works with the Oxford Group for Children’s Potential (OGCP) to develop and extend the VESPARCH (verbal and spatial reasoning for children) test as an innovative way of measuring potential. The Group works with children aged 7-13 in a range of schools nationally and internationally, including those with Special Educational Need status and Highly Selective schools.
