Dr Richard Jolley

• Chartered member of the British psychological Society, and member of the developmental section.

• HEA Fellow (2018).
• Chartered Psychologist, British Psychological Society (1996).
• PhD on "Children’s production and perception of visual metaphors for mood and emotion in line drawings and art”, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham. Funded by the ESRC. (1995).
• BSc (Hons) Psychology, University of York.

• Children’s making and understanding of pictures from a variety of psychological and educational perspectives.
• Methodological techniques in studying children’s making and responding to pictures.
• A broad overview of child development including cognitive, social, and emotional.
• Developing the research of colleagues and PhD students, and more broadly the research culture of the Department.
• Contributing to research strategy of the school and university.

My research interests lie in children’s use and understanding of representation, particularly in their making and understanding of pictures. I take a broad approach to this research area, studying research questions that include developmental, cognitive, aesthetic, educational, clinical, and cross-cultural perspectives.

Particular current and recent projects include:

• Children’s drawings of their coronavirus experience.
• Drawing as a memory aid for event recall in children.
• Cross-cultural differences in drawing development (particularly in relation to China and the UK).
• Emotional expression in children’s drawings of God as a function of age, gender and religiosity.
• Systematic review of children’s understanding of the artist-picture relationship.
• Children’s creative intentions: where do the ideas for their drawings come from?
• Response inhibition and fine motor control in the development of early drawing skill.
• Comparing drawing development in Mainstream, Steiner and Montessori schools.
• The development of expressive drawing from pre-schoolers to adulthood (including autism), and factors that influence expressive drawing.
• The attitudes and practices that shape children’s drawing experiences at home and at school.
• The use of drawings for psychological assessment in Britain.

• Contributed to course for early years professionals on mark making.
• Designed drawing study on ‘walking bus scheme’ the Staffordshire County Council.
• Research consultant to Speight of the Art.
• Organised drawing exhibitions and art workshops.

I teach on the following modules:

• MSc psychology dissertation (Level 7: PSYC70795)
• Typical and atypical development (Level 6: PSYC60684)
• Children and pictures (Level 6: PSYC60652)
• Project (level 6: PSYC60685)
• Child psychology: theory into practice (Level 6: PSYC60682)
• Psychology Research Assistant (Level 5: PSYC50742)
• Growing and changing (Level 4: PSYC40644)
• Foundations of Psychology (Level 4: PSYC40641)
• Perspectives in psychology (Level 4: PSYC40642)

I am the leader for the psychology PhD course, and supervise masters conversion students.

I have been the principal supervisor of two PhD students to successful completion:

• Barlow, C.M. (2002). Rigidity in children's drawings and its relationship with representational change. Staffordshire University.
• Rose, S.E. (2014). The Development and Teaching of Drawing Skills in Mainstream and Steiner Schools: the Consequences for Creativity. Staffordshire University.

Book

Jolley, R.P. (2010). Children and Pictures: drawing and understanding. Oxford, UK: Wiley- Blackwell.

Jolley, R.P. (2018). Παιδιά και εικόνα: σχέδιο και κατανόηση (Greek translation of ‘Children and Pictures: drawing and understanding). Athens, Greece: Topos Books.

Jolley, R.P. (2018). 儿童与图画——解析儿童绘画心理. (Chinese translation of ‘Children and Pictures: drawing and understanding).

Book chapters

Jolley, R.P & Dessart, G. (submitted). Emotional expression in children’s drawings of God. In P-Y Brandt, Z.D. Robert, C. Cocco, D. Vinck and F. Darbellay (Eds.), When Children Draw Gods: a multicultural and interdisciplinary approach to children’s representations of supernatural agents. Springer.

Jolley, R.P. & Rose S.E. (2008). The relationship between production and comprehension of representational drawing. In C. Milbrath & H.M. Trautner (Eds.), Children’s understanding and production of pictures, drawing, and art: Theoretical and empirical approaches (pp. 207-235). Hogrefe and Huber.

Jolley, R.P. (2008). Children’s understanding of the dual nature of pictures. In C. Lange-Küttner & A. Vinter (Eds.), Drawing and Non-Verbal Intelligence: A Life-Span Perspective (pp. 86-103). Cambridge University Press.

Journal articles

Vivaldi, R., Jolley, R.P. & Rose, S.E. (2020). A systematic review of children’s understanding of the artist-picture relationship. Developmental Review, 55, pp (TBC).

Rose, S.E., & Jolley, R.P. (2019). Children’s Creative Intentions: Where do the ideas for their drawings come from? Journal of Creative Behavior, 54, 712-724.

Simpson, A., Al Ruwaili, R., Jolley, R.P., Leonard, H.C., Geeraert, N. & Riggs, K.J. (2019). Fine motor control underlies the association between response inhibition and drawing skill in early development. Child Development, 90, 911-923.

Rose, S.E. & Jolley, R.P. (2016). Drawing Development in Mainstream and Waldorf Steiner Schools Revisited. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 10, 447-457

Jolley, R.P., Barlow, C.M., Rotenberg, K.J., & Cox, M.V. (2016). Linear and U-shape trends in the development of expressive drawing from pre-schoolers to adult artists. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 10, 309-324.

Brechet, C. & Jolley, R.P. (2014). The roles of emotional comprehension and representational drawing skill in children's expressive drawing. Infant and Child Development, 23, 457-470.

Riggs, K.J., Jolley, R.P., & Simpson, A. (2013). The role of inhibitory control in the development of human figure drawing in young children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 114, 537-542.

Jolley, R.P., O’Kelly, R., Barlow, C.M. & Jarrold, C. (2013). Expressive drawing ability in children with autism. British Journal of Developmental Psychology. 31, 143-149.

Rose, S.E., Jolley, R.P., & Charman, A. (2012). An investigation of the expressive and representational drawing development in National Curriculum, Steiner and Montessori schools. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 6, 85-93.

Jolley, R.P. & Zhang, Z. (2012). How drawing is taught in Chinese infant schools. International Journal of Art and Design Education, 31, 30-43

Barlow, C.M., Jolley, R.P. & Hallam, J.L. (2011). Drawings as memory aids: optimising the drawing method to facilitate young children’s recall. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 25, 480-487.

Burkitt, E., Jolley, R.P., & Rose, S.E. (2010). The attitudes and practices that shape children’s drawing experiences at home and at school. International Journal of Art and Design Education, 29, 257-270.

Rose, S.E., Jolley, R.P. & Burkitt, E. (2006). A review of children’s, teachers’ and parents’ influences on children’s drawing experience. International Journal of Art and Design Education, 25, 341-349.

Bekhit, N.S., Thomas, G.V., & Jolley, R.P. (2005). The use of drawing for psychological assessment in Britain: Survey findings. Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, 78, 205-217.

Jolley, R.P., Fenn, K. & Jones, L. (2004). The development of children's expressive drawing. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 22, 545-567.

Barlow, C.M., Jolley, R.P., White, D.G., & Galbraith, D. (2003). Rigidity in children’s drawings and its relation with representational change. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 86, 124-152.

Bekhit, N. S., Thomas, G.V., Lalonde, S. & Jolley, R. (2002). Psychological assessment in clinical practice in Britain. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 9, 285-291.

Jolley, R. P. & Vulic-Prtoric, A. (2001). Croatian children’s experience of war is not reflected in the size and placement of emotive topics in their drawings. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 40, 107-110.

Jolley, R.P., Knox, E., & Foster, S. (2000). The relationship between children’s production and comprehension of realism in drawing. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 18, 557-582.

Zhi, Z. & Jolley, R. P. (1999). Child’s understanding of moods metaphorically expressed in abstract picture and its cultural relevance. Chinese Journal of Applied Psychology, 5, 25-30.

Thomas, G. V., Jolley, R. P., Robinson, E. J. & Champion, H. (1999). Realist errors in children’s responses to pictures and words as representations. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 74, 1-20.

Jolley, R. P., Zhi, Z. & Thomas, G. V. (1998). The development of understanding moods metaphorically expressed in pictures: A cross-cultural comparison. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 29, 358-377.

Jolley, R. P., Zhi, Z. & Thomas, G. V. (1998). How focus of interest in pictures changes with age: A cross-cultural comparison. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 22, 127-149.

Thomas, G. V. & Jolley, R. P. (1998). Drawing conclusions: an examination of empirical and conceptual bases for psychological evaluation of children from their drawings. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 37, 127-139.

Zhi, Z., Jolley, R.P. & Thomas, G.V. (1998). A comparative study of children’s understanding of metaphorically expressed moods. Chinese Journal of Applied Psychology, 4, 3-8.

Zhi, Z., Jolley, R. P. & Thomas, G. V. (1997). Development of child perception in perceiving pictures: A Chinese-British comparison. Chinese Journal of Applied Psychology, 3, 32-38.

Jolley, R. P. & Thomas, G. V. (1995). Children’s sensitivity to metaphorical expression of mood in line drawings. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12, 335-346.

Jolley, R. P. & Thomas, G. V. (1994). The development of sensitivity to metaphorical expression of moods in abstract art. Educational Psychology, 14, 437-450.

Conferences/invited speakers

• Presented around 50 talks at various UK and international conferences
• Invited to University of Oxford discussion panels on “Art and the Brain” (2020) and “The Decline in the Arts” (2018)