Dr Karen Croot BA (Hons) Macq, PhD Cantab

Position: Lecturer in Applied Cognitive Psychology
Office: Room 443 Brennan MacCallum Building
Ph: +61 2 9351 2647
Fax: +61 2 9036 5223
Email:

Postal Address:
School of Psychology (A18)
University of Sydney
NSW AUSTRALIA 2006



 

Research Interests

I am interested in the abilities that allow people to speak fluently and easily. My research focuses on the processes of phonological encoding and articulation described by cognitive theories of spoken word production. I study these processes by investigating the speech and language impairments that can result from dementia, stroke, or traumatic brain injury. I also supervise research projects with unimpaired speakers, investigating speech production in difficult contexts (such as saying tongue twisters or learning the sounds of a foreign language).

 

Karen is an Associate Researcher on the AusTalk Project http://austalk.edu.au/

 

Current Teaching

University of Sydney
  PSYC2013 Cognitive, Developmental and Social Psychology 
  PSYC3012 Cognition, Language and Thought
  PSYC3014 Behavioural and Cognitive Neuroscience 
  Psychology 4 Special Field Neuropsychological Rehabilitation (Co-ordinator) 
  Honours Supervision

 

Selected Publications

Edited book

Nickels, L A & Croot, K. (2009) (Eds) Progressive language impairments: Intervention and Management. Aphasiology Special Issue/Hove UK: Psychology Press.

Book Chapters

Croot, K. (accepted) Motor speech disorders and models of speech production. In L. Cummings (Ed.) The Cambridge Handbook of Communication Disorders. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Croot, K., Au, C., & Harper, A. (2010) Prosodic structure and tongue twister errors.  In C. Fougeron, B. Kuehnert, M. d'Imperio, & N. Vallée (Eds) Papers in Laboratory Phonology 10: Variation, Phonetic Detail and Phonological Representation, pp. 433-459. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.

Text Book Contributions

Croot, K (2012) Australian focus. Aphasia: When language abilities break down. In Passer, MW & Smith, RE. Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour. McGraw Hill, p. 307.
Croot, K (2012) Australian content updates for Passer & Smith, Chapter 9: Language and Thinking. In Passer, MW & Smith, RE Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behaviour. McGraw Hill.

Journal Articles

Croot, K., Ballard, K. Leyton, C. & Hodges, J.R. (2012). Apraxia of speech and phonological errors in the diagnosis of nonfluent/agrammatic and logopenic variants of primary progressive aphasia. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 55, 1-11. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2012/11-0323)
Croot, K., Taylor, C & Nickels, L (2011) What's the evidence? Speech pathology interventions for progressive aphasia. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing,13(1), 38-41.
Nickels, L., Taylor, C & Croot, K (2011) Clinical Assessment of Progressive Aphasia. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Communication, 13(2), 73-78.
Croot, K. (2010) The emergent paradigm in Laboratory Phonology: Phonological categories and statistical generalisation in Cutler, Beckman and Edwards, Frisch and Bréa-Spahn, Kapatsinski, and Walter. Laboratory Phonology, 11 (2), 415-424. [download preprint]
Power, E., Code, C., Croot, K., Sheard, C. & Gonzalez Rothi, L.J. (2010) Florida Apraxia Battery - Extended and Revised Sydney (FABERS): Design, description and a control sample. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. 32(1) 1-19. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13803390902791646
Croot, K. (2009). Progressive aphasia: Definitions, diagnoses and prognoses. Aphasiology, 23 (2). [download preprint]
Croot, K., Nickels, L., Laurence, F. & Manning, M. (2009) Impairment- and activity/participation-directed interventions in proressive language impairment: Clinical and theoretical issues. Aphasiology, 23 (2). [download preprint] 
Nickels, L. & Croot, K (2009) Editorial: Progressive language impairments: Intervention and management. Aphasiology, 23 (2). [download preprint]
Taylor, C, Miles-Kingma, R, Croot, K., & Nickels, L (2009) Speech pathology services for primary progressive aphasia: Exploring an emerging area of practice. Aphasiology, 23 (2). [download preprint]
Rastle, K., Croot, K P, Harrington, J M & Coltheart, M (2005) Characterising the motor execution stage of speech production: Consonantal effects on delayed naming latency and onset duration. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 31(5), 1083-1095.
Croot, K. (2002) Diagnosis of AOS: Definition and criteria. In N.Helm-Estabrooks, Ratner, N. B (Editors in Chief), & M. R. McNeil (Guest Ed.) Apraxia of Speech: From concept to clinic. Special Issue of, Seminars in Speech and Language, 23(4), 267-279.
Baker, E., Croot, K., McLeod, S., & Paul, R. (2001) Psycholinguistic models of speech development and their application to clinical practice. The Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 44, 685-702.
Croot, K. (2001) Integrating the investigation of apraxic, aphasic and articulatory disorders in speech production: A move toward sound theory. Commentary on Varley and Whiteside. Aphasiology, 15, 20-24.
Harasty, J.A., Halliday, G.M., Xuereb, J., Croot, K., Bennet, H. & Hodges, J.R. (2001) Cortical degeneration associated with phonological and semantic language impairments in AD. Neurology, 56, 944-950.
Croot, K. (2000) Primary progressive aphasia: A tutorial. Acquiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing, 2, 90-92.
Croot, K., Hodges, J.R., Xuereb, J., & Patterson, K. (2000) Phonological and articulatory impairment in Alzheimer's disease: A case series. Brain and Language, 75, 277-309.
Croot, K., Hodges, J.R., & Patterson, K. (1999) Evidence for impaired sentence comprehension in early Alzheimer's disease. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 5, 393-404.
Croot, K., Patterson, K., & Hodges, J.R. (1999) Familial progressive aphasia: Insights into the nature and deterioration of single word processing. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 16, 705-747.
Croot, K., Patterson, K., & Hodges, J.R. (1998) Single word production in non-fluent progressive aphasia. Brain and Language, 61, 226-273.

Refereed Conference Proceedings

Lim, L.L., Croot, K., Palethorpe, S & Coltheart, M. (2005) The effect of multiple productions on the single word production of people with acquired speech sound production difficulties: An analysis of two cases. Academy of Aphasia, Amsterdam, 23-25 October 2005. Brain and Language, 95(1), 200-201.
Croot, K. and Rastle, K. (2004) Is there a syllabary containing stored articulatory plans for speech production in English? In Proceedings of the 10th Australian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology, Macquarie University, Sydney, 8 - 10 December 2004. Download: [PDF] (98kB)
Kessler, T., Croot, K., & Togher, L. (2001). Strategies to facilitate communication with a person with Dementia of the Alzheimer Type. In L Wilson & S Hewat (Eds), Proceedings of the 2001 Speech Pathology Australia National Conference, Melbourne, 20-23 May, 2001, pp 27- 34.
Croot, K. (2000) Can a model with gestural phonological representations account for acquired phonological and articulatory impairments? Two case studies. The Asia Pacific Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing, 5, 113-121.
Baker, E., Croot, K., van Doorn, J. & Reed, V. (1999) In search of a sound theory: Investigating articulation and phonology. Proceedings of Towards 2000, The Speech Pathology Australia National Conference, May 1999, Sydney, Australia, pp. 29-36.
Croot, K. (1999) An acoustic analysis of articulatory impairment in a case of non-fluent progressive aphasia. Academy of Aphasia, Venice, November 1999. Brain and Language, 69, 352-355.
Croot, K. (1998) An acoustic analysis of vowel production across tasks in a case of non-fluent progressive aphasia. Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Spoken Language Processing, December, 1999, Sydney, Australia, pp. 907-910.
Croot, K., Patterson, K. & Hodges, J. R. (1996). Phonological disruption in atypical Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type. Brain and Cognition, 32, 186-190.
Patterson, K., Croot, K. & Hodges, J. R. (1994). Speech production: Insights from a study of progressive aphasia. Proceedings of the 1994 Conference on Spoken Language Processing (pp. 755-758). Tokyo: Acoustical Society of Japan.
Croot, K., Fletcher, J. & Harrington, J. (1992). Levels of segmentation and labelling in the Australian National Database of Spoken Language. Proceedings of the Fourth Australian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology. Brisbane, Australia, pp.86-90.

 

PhD Thesis

Croot, K P (1997) Phonological Disruption in Progressive Aphasia and Alzheimer's Disease.
Unpublished PhD thesis, Medical Research Council Applied Psychology Unit (now Cognition
and Brain Sciences Unit), University of Cambridge, UK.

Download Thesis


 

Awards and Grants

2013 Visiting Fellowship
Center for Advanced Studies, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. Jan-Feb 2013
2012 ACQ Editors Prize 2011. Awarded for contribution of highest merit to ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing (ACQ) in 2011 for paper Nickels, L., Taylor, C & Croot, K (2011) Clinical Assessment of Progressive Aphasia. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Communication, 13(2), 73-78
2010 - 2012 NH&MRC Research Grant.
Chief Investigators: Hodges, JR, Rowe, C, Piguet, O., Pike, K., Ballard, K, Villemagne, V. Associate Investigators: Brodtman, A., Storey, E., Woodward, M, & Croot, K. (2009)
Progressive aphasia and amyloid deposition: a multidisciplinary approach to improving dementia diagnosis. $510 700
2010 Alzheimer's Australia Research: Hazel Hawke Research Grant in Dementia Care.
Croot, K., Nickels, L & Taylor, C. The right word at the right time: keeping communication going in progressive aphasia. $24 992
2004 The University of Sydney SESQUI New Staff Support Scheme $24000
2003 British Academy Visiting Fellowship
Visiting Fellowship at Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London (sponsor: Dr Kathleen Rastle)
2001-2004 ARC Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship
2001 Macquarie University Research Grants Scheme $5760
2001 Macquarie University Research Grants Scheme $2448 (Rastle & Croot)
1993-1997 Cambridge/Packer Australian Scholarship, Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Australia.
1993-1996 Overseas Research Students (ORS) Award
Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals of the Universities of the United Kingdom