Shannon Layman

Assistant Professor

Experiential learning, nonpharmacologic interventions for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), music and autobiographical memory, featural processing in Western music

Dr. Shannon Layman is an Assistant Professor, Academic Advisor, and the Experiential Learning Coordinator in the Department of Psychology. Beyond teaching undergraduate courses and advising undergraduate students, Dr. Layman develops experiential learning opportunities that connect undergraduate classroom learning to real-world experience.

Dr. Layman received a Ph.D. in Cognition and Neuroscience with a focus on music cognition at the University of Texas at Dallas. Following this, she moved to the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), where she was an Assistant Professor of Instruction from 2013 to 2019.

Her path towards experiential learning began when she was accepted into the 2016-2017 UTA Faculty Fellows Program for Service Learning. After this program, she collaborated with music and aging leaders in the Arlington, TX community to co-found the Musical Memory Singers, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to providing community connection and support for care partners caring for loved ones with dementia in the home. She served as a board member from 2018 to 2021, and the chorus continues to sing joyfully.

Before joining the psychology department full-time, Dr. Layman collaborated with faculty in the College of Public Health on three grant-funded research projects: The Mason Music & Memory Initiative (M3I), Mason Caregivers Aiming for Resilience, Empowerment, and Support (CARES), and Mason CARES Plus.

M3I implemented The Music & Memory program (https://musicandmemory.org) in Medicaid-funded nursing facilities across Virginia as part of a non-pharmacological initiative to improve the lives of late-stage dementia patients.
Mason CARES aimed at reducing stress and improving the well-being of family caregivers of people living with dementia with dual-intervention program: A 9-week Stress Busting Program (SBP) for Family Caregivers™, an evidence-based virtual health education program on caregiver stress and burden, and a 4-week randomized personalized music and memory intervention for care recipients living with dementia.
Mason CARES Plus explored which elements of the dual-intervention were effective and identified strategies to improve engagement with the latter.

Dr. Layman was awarded the 2019 Outstanding Mason Core/ Social Behavioral Sciences and acknowledged in the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning Thank-a-Teacher Program. While at UTA, Dr. Layman received the College of Science Teaching Excellence Award and was nominated for the Arlington Sunrise Rotary Club “Professor of the Year,” the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the William S. Ward Endowment Award.

Selected Publications

Inoue, M., Ihara, E.S., Layman, S., Li, M.H., Nosrat, S., Mehak, S., Barrett, K., Magee, C., McNally, K., Moore, M., Tompkins, C. (2024). A Personalized Music Intervention in Nursing Home Residents Living with Dementia: Findings from a Randomized Study. Journal of Applied Berontology: The Official Journal of the Southern Gerontological Society, 7334648241257797

Gimm, G., Layman, S., Inoue, M., Ihara, E. S., Pantleay, H., & Tompkins, C. J. (2024). Mason Caregivers Aiming for Resilience, Empowerment, and Support Study: Assessing Family Caregiver Burden Post-Intervention. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 07334648241243173.

Tompkins, C., Gimm, G., Layman, S., Ihara, E., Pantleay, H., Inoue, M. (In preparation). The Mason CARES Randomized Study: Impact of a Dual-Intervention Program on Caregiver Stress Levels

Inoue, M., Li, M. H., Layman, S., Tompkins, C. J., & Ihara, E. S. (2022). Characteristics of Nursing Facilities and Staff Willingness to Implement a Non-Pharmacological Intervention. Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, 8, 23337214221146410.

Layman, S.L., Dowling, W.J. (2018). Did you hear the vocalist? Differences in processing between short segments of familiar and unfamiliar western popular music. Journal of Music Perception and Cognition, 35 (5), 607-621.

Courses Taught

PSYC 100: Introduction to Psychology

PSYC 231: Social Psychology

PSYC 301: Research Methods

PSYC 317: Cognitive Psychology

PSYC 399: Psychology - College to Career

Education

Ph.D., Cognition and Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2012

M.S., Applied Cognition and Neuroscience, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2009

B.A., Viola Performance, University of Kansas, 2007

B.A., Psychology, University of Kansas, 2007

In the Media

Mason CARES intervention reduces stress and feelings of burden of family caregivers of older adults with dementia:

https://www.gmu.edu/news/2024-05/mason-cares-intervention-reduces-stress-and-feelings-burden-family-caregivers-older