معرفی
Dr. Neil Kirk is a Reader in Cognitive and MIND Psychology and Senior Lecturer at Abertay University's Department of Sociological and Psychological Sciences, part of the Faculty of Social and Applied Sciences. He holds Chartered Psychologist status with the British Psychological Society (BPS). Before joining Abertay in 2016, he worked in research roles at the Medical Research Council and Scottish Government.
Teaching: He teaches modules such as Evidence-Based Thinking, Psychology Mythbusters (Module Leader), Research Methods, and Advanced Social and Cognitive Psychology. He supervises Psychology Honours Project students.
Research: Neil’s primary focus is bidialectalism’s cognitive mechanisms, exploring how speakers of Scottish English and Dundonian Scots exhibit bilingual-like effects. His work bridges linguistics and psychology, examining dialects’ role in social perception and language control. Notable studies include dialect switching costs and the cognitive effects of language mixing.
Publications and Outreach: Over 22 peer-reviewed articles span 2012–2025, addressing topics like self-associated voice prioritization and language control in dialect speakers. His research has been featured in the Financial Times, BBC, and Aeon Magazine. He actively promotes science through festivals (Edinburgh Science Festival, Big Bang Science Festival) and authored articles for GIST magazine.
Awards and Grants: Awards include the Leverhulme Trust PhD Studentship (2012–2015) and the Alexander D G Kydd Memorial Prize (2010). He has secured grants totaling £68,000+ for research projects.
Labs and Teams: Collaborates on interdisciplinary projects, including studies on human-AI voice perception and cognitive effects of sports concussions. His work integrates behavioral experiments with sociolinguistic analysis.
