Professor Andrea Krott MA, PhD

Professor Andrea Krott

School of Psychology
Professor of Psychology of Language
Lead for Finance and Infrastructure Strategy

Contact details

Address
School of Psychology
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Andrea Krott is a psycholinguist whose current research examines the impacts of being multilingual/bilingual on cognition, language processing and mental health/wellbeing. She primarily focuses on children, but has also worked on the effects of bilingualism on adults' brain structure and neural functioning during cognitive control and language processing.

In the past, she has investigated how children acquire language and how cognitive and linguistic factors shape language development, in both typically developing and neurodivergent children. Combining experimental, longitudinal, and educational approaches, her research aims to inform evidence-based educational practice and support for diverse language learners.

Qualifications

  • M.A., University of Trier (Germany)
  • Ph.D., University of Nijmegen (The Netherlands)

Teaching

Module lead on Research Methods and Skills in Psychology - masters level module

Contribution to Language and Communication - UG level 2 module

Previous teaching: Language Development and Disorders in Children

Postgraduate supervision

I welcome applications from prospective PhD students whose interests align with my research on: a) Bilingualism and multilingualism in infancy and childhood, b) the role of bilingual experience in cognitive, social, and educational development, c) Cognitive consequences of bilingualism across the lifespan, and d) the neural bases of bilingual language processing and cognition.

My current research interest are 

  • word learning in infancy and early childhood 
  • the relationship of cognitive abilities and word learning 
  • cognitive and socio-communicative advantages in bilingualism
  • the bilingual brain 
  • effects of bilingual neural and cognitive changes on language processing

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are interested in pursuing a postgraduate degree (masters or PhD) in any of these or related research areas.

Have a look also at my lab webpage https://andreakrott.com

Publications

Highlight publications

DeLuca, V, Segaert, K, Mazaheri, A & Krott, A 2020, 'Understanding bilingual brain function and structure changes? U bet! A unified bilingual experience trajectory model', Journal of Neurolinguistics, vol. 56, 100930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneuroling.2020.100930

Zuniga Montanez, CC, Kita, S, Aussems, S & Krott, A 2021, 'Beyond the Shape of Things: Infants Can Be Taught to Generalize Nouns by Objects’ Functions', Psychological Science, vol. 32, no. 7, pp. 1073-1085. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797621993107

Markiewicz, R, Mazaheri, A & Krott, A 2022, 'Bilingualism can cause enhanced conflict monitoring and occasional delayed responses in a flanker task', European Journal of Neuroscience, pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15863

Floccia, C, Sambrook, T, Delle Luche, C, Kwok, R, Goslin, J, White, L, Cattani, A, Sullivan, E, Abbot-Smith, K, Krott, A, Mills, D, Rowland, C, Gervain, J & Plunkett, K 2018, 'Vocabulary of 2-year-olds learning English and an additional language: norms and effects of linguistic distance', Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, vol. 83, no. 1, pp. 1-135. https://doi.org/10.1111/mono.v83.1

Poarch, G & Krott, A 2019, 'A bilingual advantage? An appeal for a change in perspective and recommendations for future research', Behavioral Sciences, vol. 9, no. 9, 95. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs9090095

Recent publications

Article

Salgado-Garcia, P, Devine, RT & Krott, A 2026, 'Early bilingualism is associated with lower mental health problems across childhood: A longitudinal investigation', Child Development. https://doi.org/10.1093/chidev/aacag037

Ilchovska, ZG, Mazaheri, A & Krott, A 2026, 'The Switching Experience and Environment Questionnaire (SEEQ): Testing a new integrated measure of bilingual switching behaviours', Behavior Research Methods.

Wang, Y, Apperly, IA & Krott, A 2025, 'Executive functions, not bilingualism or cultural differences, predict visuospatial perspective-taking in young adults', Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S1366728925100825

Agostini, V, Apperly, I & Krott, A 2025, 'Greater sensitivity to communication partners’ perspectives in children learning a second language at school', Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728925000069

Agostini, V, Apperly, I & Krott, A 2024, 'Bilingual education enhances creative fluency and flexibility over the first year of primary school', Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728924000579

Zuniga Montanez, CC & Krott, A 2024, 'Late Talkers can generalise trained labels by object shape similarities, but not unfamiliar labels', Journal of Child Language, pp. 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000924000163, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000924000163

DeLuca, V, Voits, T, Ni, J, Carter, F, Foyzul, R, Mazaheri, A, Krott, A & Segaert, K 2024, 'Mapping individual aspects of bilingual experience to adaptations in brain structure', Cerebral Cortex, vol. 34, no. 2, bhae029. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhae029

Carter, F, DeLuca, V, Segaert, K, Mazaheri, A & Krott, A 2023, 'Functional neural architecture of cognitive control mediates the relationship between individual differences in bilingual experience and behaviour', NeuroImage, vol. 273, 120085. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120085

Snape, S & Krott, A 2022, 'The challenge of relational referents in early word extensions: Evidence from noun-noun compounds.', Journal of Child Language, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 131-163. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305000920000793

Tarighat, S & Krott, A 2021, 'Bilingualism enhances reported perspective taking in men, but not in women', Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 12, 679524. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.679524

Fritz, I, Kita, S, Littlemore, J & Krott, A 2021, 'Multimodal language processing: How preceding discourse constrains gesture interpretation and affects gesture integration when gestures do not synchronise with semantic affiliates.', Journal of Memory and Language, vol. 117, 104191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2020.104191

Goranova, J, Olson, A & Krott, A 2021, 'What about lexical competition? Exploring the locus of lexical retrieval deficits in adults with developmental dyslexia', Neuropsychology, vol. 35, no. 8, pp. 822-846. https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0000767

Krott, A, Medaglia, M & Porcaro, C 2019, 'Early and late effects of semantic distractors on electroencephalographic responses during overt picture naming', Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 10, no. MAR, 696. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00696

Fritz, I, Kita, S, Littlemore, J & Krott, A 2019, 'Information packaging in speech shapes information packaging in gesture: The role of speech planning units in the coordination of speech-gesture production.', Journal of Memory and Language, vol. 104, pp. 56-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2018.09.002

Digital or Visual Products

Cattani, A, Krott, A, Dennis, I & Floccia, C, WinG: Words in Game Test, 2019, Digital or Visual Products, Stass Publications, St Mabyn, United Kingdom. <http://www.stasspublications.co.uk/CatalogueRetrieve.aspx?ProductID=9832676&A=SearchResult&SearchID=2238576&ObjectID=9832676&ObjectType=27>

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