Harold Goodglass

Who was Harold Goodglass?

Harold Goodglass was a prominent pioneer of neuropsychological tests and assessment, and spent much of his career investigating aphasia. The Boston VA Hospital, where he spent many years investigating brain function, now houses the Harold Goodglass Aphasia Research Center.

Goodglass was born in New York City August 18, 1920, graduated from Townsend Harris High School in 1935, and received a B.A. degree from City College of New York in 1939. He served in the Army Air Force from 1942 to 1946, and was discharged as a Captain. He then attended New York University, receiving a M.A. degree in psychology in 1948, and he received a Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 1951.

Goodglass developed a special interest in aphasia early in his career, and with the research support of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institutes of Health, he published research articles on disorders of naming in aphasia, on category specific disorders of lexical comprehension and production, on the comprehension of syntax, and on the syndrome of agrammatism. He also carried out a program of studies on cerebral dominance.