Principle Investigator
Dr. Tyson G. Harmon
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Disorders
I am interested in research that advances behavioral assessment and treatment of adult neurological communication disorders. Specifically, I am interested in understanding how language functioning and recovery after stroke is affected by mood and attention and in learning how to help people with aphasia transfer gains made in therapy to their everyday communication.Graduate Student Research Assistants
Emily McDonald
2nd Year MS SLP Student
I am from Spanish Fork, Utah, and some of my favorite things to do include roller skating, yoga, and traveling. I am currently a second year graduate student and have been working in the Aphasia lab for four years. I love working with people with aphasia, in my time in the lab I have met some of the sweetest people. After graduation I hope to continue to work in a medical rehabilitation setting with people who have had strokes and TBIs.
Chloe Chapman Houghton
1st Year MS SLP Student
I am from Modesto, California and I love to wakeboard, try new foods, bake, and spend time with my family and friends. I am a Senior here at BYU studying Communication Disorders with a minor in Gerontology. I recently married my best friend Levi in April and have never been happier! I love this field and the potential we have to help patients of all ages achieve the quality of life they desire. When I first started this major, the effects of aphasia and TBI on a patient’s ability to communicate quickly fascinated me, so I am beyond excited to already be involved firsthand in this facet of the field.
Abby Jensen
1st Year MS SLP Student
I am from South Jordan, UT and I'm currently a first-year graduate student in the Communication Disorders program. I am interested in anything to do with the brain, particularly how it is involved in speech, language and cognition. I really enjoy working with individuals who have neurological communication disorders and have loved my experiences in the BYU Aphasia Lab. Some of my hobbies include playing tennis, reading, and playing the piano.Select Publications
Harmon, T. G. (2024). Understanding and addressing the individualized emotional impact of aphasia: A framework for speech-language pathologists. Invited manuscript for special issue of Seminars in Speech and Language, 45(1), 5-23. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0043-1776418
Harmon, T. G., McDonald, E., Steele, K. (2023). Effects of cognitive and social demands on linguistic production for people with moderate, mild, or no aphasia. Aphasiology, 38(2), 281-304. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2023.2189512
Harmon, T. G., Johnson, A., Ward, V., Nissen, S. L. (2023). Physiological arousal, attentiveness, emotion, and word retrieval in aphasia: Effects and relationships. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 32(5S), 2554-2564. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_AJSLP-22-00305
Nelson, B. S., Harmon, T. G., Dromey, C., Clawson, K. D. (2023). Telling stories in noise: The impact of background noises on spoken language for people with aphasia. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 32(5S), 2444-2460. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_AJSLP-22-00299
Haley, K. L., Jacks, A., Richardson, J. D., Harmon, T. G., Lacey, E., Turkeltaub, P. E. (2023). Do people with apraxia of speech and aphasia improve or worsen across repeated sequential word trials? Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 66(4), 1240-1251. https://doi.org/10.1044/2022_JSLHR-22-00438
Harmon, T. G., Nielsen, C., Loveridge, C., Williams, C. (2022). Effects of positive and negative emotion on picture naming for people with mild to moderate aphasia: A preliminary investigation. Advance online publication. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00190Free AM copy
Harmon, T. G., Dromey, C., Nelson, B., Chapman, K. (2021). Effects of Background Noise on Speech and Language in Young Adults. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 64(4), 1104-1116. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00376Free AM copy
Haley, K. L., Cunningham, K. T., Jacks, A., Richardson, J. D., Harmon, T. G., Turkeltaub, P. E. (2021). Repeated word production is inconsistent in both aphasia and apraxia of speech. Aphasiology, 35(4), 518-538. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2020.1727837
Stark, B. C., Dutta, M., Murray, L. L., Bryant, L., Fromm, D., … Harmon, T. G., … Sharma, S. (2021). Standardizing assessment of spoken discourse in aphasia: A working group with deliverables. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 30(1S), 491-502. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_AJSLP-19-00093
Harmon, T. G. (2020). Everyday communication challenges in aphasia: Descriptions of experiences and coping strategies. Aphasiology, 34(10), 1270–1290. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2020.1752906Free AM copy
Harmon, T. G., Jacks, A., Haley, K. L., Bailliard, A. (2020). How responsiveness from a communication partner affects story retell in aphasia: Quantitative and qualitative findings. American Journal of Speech Language Pathology. 29(1), 142-156. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_AJSLP-19-0091Free AM copy
Harmon, T. G., Jacks, A., & Haley, K. L. (2019). Speech fluency in acquired apraxia of speech during narrative discourse: Group comparisons and dual-task effects. American Journal of Speech-Langauge Pathology, 28(July), 905–914. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_AJSLP-MSC18-18-0107Free AM copy
Harmon, T. G., Jacks, A., Haley, K. L., & Bailliard, A. (2019). Dual-task effects on story retell for participants with moderate, mild, or no aphasia: Quantitative and qualitative findings. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 62(6), 1890–1905. https://doi.org/10.1044/2019_JSLHR-L-18-0399Free AM copy
Harmon, T. G., Hardy, L., Haley, K. L. (2018). Proactive social validation of methods and procedures used for training speech production in aphasia. Aphasiology, 32(8):922-943. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2017.1385051Free AM copy
Haley, K. L., Womack, J. L., Harmon, T. G., McCulloch, K. L., Faldowski, R. A.(2018). Life activity choices by people with aphasia: Repeated interviews and proxy agreement. Aphasiology. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2018.1506087
Harmon, T. G., Jacks, A., Haley, K. L., Faldowski, R. A. (2016). Listener perceptions of simulated fluent speech in nonfluent aphasia. Aphasiology, 30(8), 922-942. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2015.1077925Free AM copy
Haley, K. L., Shafer, J., Harmon, T. G., Jacks, A. (2016). Recovering with acquired apraxia of speech: The first two years. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 25(4S), S687-S696. https://doi.org/10.1044/2016_AJSLP-15-0143
Select Presentations
Dixon, K., Dromey, C., Harmon, T. G., Nielsen, T. (2021, Nov). Effects of background noise on the speech acoustics of people with aphasia. Acoustical Society of America. Seattle, WA.Williams, C., Crane, L., Cobbley, C., Harmon, T. G. (2021, Nov). Responding, adapting, and engaging: How people with aphasia react to social and cognitive challenges.
Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Virtual/Washington, DC. Steele, K., McDonald, E., Rapp, B., Harmon, T. G. (2021, Nov). How social and cognitive demands affect language production during narrative discourse for people with aphasia.
Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Virtual/Washington, DC.Harvey, L., Bandosz, M., Zuniga, M., Biel, M., Brancamp, T., Evans, W., Hambridge, T., Harmon, T. G., Wallace, S. E. (2021, Nov). Post-traumatic growth in aphasia: Measurement and examination of lived experiences.
Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Virtual/Washington, DC.Hinckley, J., Bislick, L., Brancamp, T., Caputo, M.†, Dietz, A., Duncan, S., Evans, W., Hambridge, T.†, Harmon, T. G., Kim, E., Koo, H., Rushlow, D., Rushlow, J. C., Van Allan, S., Wallace, S. E. (2021, Nov). Rising United in Research: Multi-stakeholder Team Updates from Project BRIDGE.
Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Virtual/Washington, DC.Dutta, M., Stark, B. C., Murray, L. L., Fromm, D., Ramage, A., Harmon, T. G. (2021, Oct). Current practices in spoken discourse analysis in aphasia.
Virtual Academy of Aphasia Conference. Harmon, T. G. (2020, March). Helping people with aphasia cope with communication challenges. Oral presentation given at the Utah Speech-Language and Hearing Association annual convention. Salt Lake City, UT.Jacks, A., Haley, K. L., Harmon, T. G. (2019).
Improved fluency with auditory masking in participants with left inferior frontal lesions. Paper submitted to: Motor Speech Conference, February 20-23, Santa Barbara, CA.Haley, K. L., Cunningham, K. T., Jacks, A., Richardson, J., Harmon, T. G. (2019).
Error consistency on repeated productions does not differentiate between apraxia of speech and aphasia with phonemic paraphasia. Paper submitted to: Motor Speech Conference, February 20-23, Santa Barbara, CA.Harmon, T. G., Bell, L. (undergraduate student), Riley, R. (undergraduate student), Loveridge, C. (Master’s student) (November, 2019).
Coping With Communication Challenges: Insights From People With Aphasia. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Orlando, FL.Harmon, T. G., Picetti, D. (Master’s student), Haley, K. L., Jacks, A. (May, 2019).
Response to emotional and attentional demands in aphasia: A qualitative descriptive study. Annual Clinical Aphasiology Conference. Whitefish, MT.Harmon, T. G., Jacks, A., Haley, K. L. (2018, May). Is there a trade-off between speed and accuracy during dual task narrative production in aphasia?
Annual Clinical Aphasiology Conference. Austin, TX.Haley, K. L., Harmon, T. G., (2018, May). Interview consistency and proxy agreement for the Life Interests and Values Cards. Annual Clinical Aphasiology Conference. Austin, TX.Harmon, T. G., Jacks, A., Haley, K. L. (2018, Feb).
Dual-task interference on speech fluency during story retell for people with apraxia of speech. Motor Speech Conference. Savannah, GA.Jacks, A., Haley, K. L., Harmon, T. G., Eshghi, M. (2018, Feb).
Neural correlates of prosodic measures in adults with aphasia and/or apraxia: A lesion-behavior mapping study. Motor Speech Conference. Savannah, GA.Harmon, T. G., Haley, K. L. (2017, Nov).
Using social validation to promote personal motivation and program implementation. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Los Angeles, CA.Haley, K. L., Harmon, T. G., Smith, M. (Master’s student), Jacks, A. Richardson, J., Dalton, S. G., Shafer, J. (2017, Nov).
Apraxia of speech in conduction aphasia: A clinical reality. Annual Convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Los Angeles, CA.Haley K. L., Jacks, A., Jarrett, J. (undergraduate student), Harmon, T. G., Gorno-Tempini, M. L., Henry, M. L. (2017, May).
Quantitative features of AOS in nonfluent and logopenic variants of PPA. Annual Clinical Aphasiology Conference. Park City, UT.
Presentations
Theses Projects
Hegewald, R. (2022). The Impact of Background Noise on the Communicative Experience of People With Mild to Moderate Aphasia: A Qualitative Study. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Brigham Young University.
Vivian, W. (2022). An Exploratory Study of Behavioral Engagement in People With and Without Aphasia: Comparisons and Relationships. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Brigham Young University.
LeCheminant, E. (2022). Effects of Background Noise on the Spoken Language of Young and Older Adults During Narrative Discourse. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Brigham Young University.
Johnson, A. (2021). Physiological Arousal, Emotion, and W ousal, Emotion, and Word Retrieval in Aphasia: Effects and Relationships. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Brigham Young University.
Nielsen, C. (2020). Effect of positive and negative emotion on naming accuracy in adults with aphasia. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Brigham Young University.
Loveridge, C. (2020). Effects of positive and negative emotional valence on response time during a confrontational naming task: Findings from people with aphasia and young adults. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Brigham Young University.
Scadden, B. (2021). The Impact of Background Noise on the Spoken Language of People With Mild to Moderate Aphasia: A Preliminary Investigation. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Brigham Young University.
GROWTH IN APHASIA PROJECT
