Background Information

I am a senior at the University of Maryland and will receive my B.A. in psychology in May 2008. Since September of 2006, I have been working in Dr. Nathan Fox's child development lab, under the supervision of Dr. Lela Rankin. I am coding videos of adolescent conversations with an unfamiliar peer, in order to see if the behavioral inhibition of some adolescents has an effect on verbal or nonverbal behavior, topic choice, and conversation initiation. From June-August 2007, I was a research assistant in the CAPER lab for the BATS study, which examines the effectiveness of behavioral activation treatment on smokers with symptoms of depression. Since June 2007, I have been a research assistant in CAPER’s study examining risk taking behavior in children. I am also a member of Psi Chi, the national honor society for psychology, and participated in the Maryland Center for Undergraduate Research program.

Research Interests

I intend to pursue research on the effects of gender on the manifestation of severe mental disorders, such as Borderline Personality Disorder.