M ichelle Harris
Houston, Texas 77073
Phone: 713-***-****
Alt Phone: 281-***-****
I am a twenty-four year old Behavioral Therapist for Autistic children, and I have just
finished an MSc in Cognitive Psychology/Neuropsychology at the University of Kent in the
United Kingdom, and I have a BA in Psychology from Purdue University. I wish to apply for
post. My recent MSc course and the research assistant positions I’ve held (Behavioral
Therapist/ Behavioral Coder/Observer of children/student experimenter) have endowed me
with the comfort and flexibility to successfully navigate academic environments. I have
worked as a Residence Hall Supervisor for a large international college where I was charged
with supervising international students studying to enter into UK universities. I worked as a
GCSE coach in an established College outside London, where I was tasked with aiding 10 th
and 11th year students in preparing for their Science GCSE Examination. As it is a
comprehensive school, I interacted on a daily basis with students with difficult behavior as
well as those with non-challenging behavior, including those children diagnosed along the
Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
I currently work as a Behavioral Therapist for Autistic children placed in inclusion
partnerships with local schools, where I act as both teacher and therapist providing behavioral
intervention to help the students better integrate at grade level with their peers. These roles
have provided me with the skills necessary to be self-motivated, efficient, knowledgeable,
confident in my dealings with a variety of people and tasks, and very thorough, all traits that
make me suitable for this job. I have worked on research studies involving protected clinical
populations (children pre-screened for ADHD) as well as a select sect of the general populace
(minority university students). In the research with the children, I was tasked with initial
screening of participants, as well as interacting with and observing/coding the behavior of
specified children during physical activities. In the university study, I experimented with
African American participants to gauge implicit attitudes toward established authority figures.
Also, I have designed and carried out my own research on the relationship between the
Attentional Blink and social stigma; this has granted me a greater insight and comfort with
research in general.
I plan to do a Clinical Doctorate with children with behavioral/personality disorders, so I see
this as a great opportunity to gain pertinent experience. I am aware that even the mildest
mental and behavioral maladies can make life difficult, and the systems put in place to help
these people are often overwhelmed. I would particularly like the opportunity to work as part
of a team that is attempting to rectify this and get them the intervention they need. I think the
best way to rehabilitate someone suffering from psychological maladies is through continuous
one-to-one intervention, and it is for this reason that I am most interested in this post and
believe I could contribute much. I am flexible and highly adaptable to many situations, and
can work very well without instruction or as part of a team. I believe I am well-suited to
fulfill your request and I thank you in advance for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Michelle Harris
Michelle R. Harris, BA, MSc, MBPsS
PERMANENT: 1411 HADE FALLS LANE, HOUSTON, TEXAS 77073
PHONE: 1-713-***-****
NATIONALITY/RESIDENCE: UNITED STATES CITIZEN
EMAIL:*********@*****.***
EDUCATION
University of Kent, Canterbury, September 2011-September 2012
Program: MSc Cognitive Psychology/Neuropsychology
Modules: Current Issues in Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology (Year); Advanced Statistics and
Methodology (Year); Advanced Cognitive (Neuroscience) Methods in Practice (Fall); Advanced Topics in
Cognition in Action (Spring); Dissertation (Spring)
City University London, September 2009-June 2010
US Study Abroad Student, studying Psychology
Purdue University, College of Liberal Arts, August 2007-Present
Major: Psychology
Graduation: May 2011
Scholarship Student
G.P.A: 3.24 (on 4.0 scale) or 2:1 honors (UK system)
Abnormal Psychology; Intro to Cognitive Psychology; Sensation and Perception; Intro to
Learning; Human Memory; Psychology of Consciousness;
Elementary Psychology; Child Psychology; Introduction to Statistics
in Psychology; Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology;
Personality & Differential Psychology; Introduction to Behavioral
Neuroscience; Psychology as Philosophy
Skyview High School, USA, August 2003- May 2007
Received High School Diploma (USA A-Level Equivalent)
RESEACRCH EXPERIENCE
MSc Research Project, October 2011- September 2012
University of Kent, School of Psychology
Research: using the Attentional Blink RSVP paradigm (Rapid Serial Visual
•
Presentation) to examine the effects of social stigma (of conceptually ‘normal faces’
and ‘stigmatized’ or deformed faces) on perception. Use of E-Prime software.
Supervised by Dr. Mario Weick.
Data collection
•
Data entry and coding into excel and SPSS
•
Data analysis through use of SPSS
•
Examination by written Dissertation
•
Research/Internship, October 2010-May 2011
Purdue University, Department of Health and Kinesiology
• Served as Behavioral Coder Researcher under supervision of Dr. Allen Smith
• Observed school children (ages 7-9) screened for ADHD in before-school physical activity program
Data entry of statistical measures taken throughout the study into SPSS
•
Initial screening tests of children to be included in study
•
Research Assistant, November 2008-May 2009
Purdue University, Department of Psychological Sciences
Served as a Research Assistant under supervision of Director of Clinical Psychology
•
Dr. David Rollock. The purpose of the experiment was to determine the implicit
attitudes of African Americans toward the police. Race was a factor.
The work involved running computer program experiments, keeping records of the
•
experiments, and communicating with participants
Collected required consent forms from participants
•
Collected data and scholastic articles for the purpose of the experiment
•
Use of SPSS to analyze data
•
WORK EXPERIENCE
Behavior Therapist-Level 2 (December 2012-Present)
Including Kids, Houston, Texas
Works 1:1 with Autism Spectrum student using Applied Behavior Analysis to develop
•
age appropriate behaviors, communication skills, and academics
Works towards mastery of grade-level academics and age appropriate behaviors for
•
full inclusion in general student body (implements data collection, Behavior
Improvement Plans {BIPs} and Individualized Behavior Intervention Plans {IBIP’s})
Performs Discrete Trial Training {DDT}: a one-to-one instructional approach used
•
to teach skills in a planned, controlled, and systematic manner.
Performs Differential Reinforcement II positive practice drills
•
Implements inter-observer agreement
•
Staffs group activities of all children (lunch, recess, etc)
•
Completion of daily home logs to parents
•
Contributes to Quarterly Progress reports by compiling data and contributing to the
•
anecdotal sections
completes forms and holds case manager weekly meeting
•
graphs skill acquisition data
•
makes and gathers all materials necessary to facilitate 1:1 teaching with student
•
Ensures behavioral data is monitored on a weekly basis, including the creation of
•
action plans for students
GCSE Coach, From September 2012 – November 2012
Longfield Academy, Longfield, UK
• Facilitate student learning (ages 14-17) in preparation for their Science and English GCSE
• Individual work with students needing extra assistance in the areas of Science and English
• Group work with students needing extra assistance in the areas of Science and English
• To help supplement normal lessons through additional attention
Research/Internship, October 2010-July 2011
Purdue University, Department of Health and Kinesiology
• Served as Behavioral Coder Researcher under supervision of Dr. Allen Smith
• Conducted administration of initial screening tests of children included in study
• Coded behavior of children based on defined guidelines
• Observed and interacted with school children screened for ADHD in before-school physical activity
program
Data entry of statistical measures taken throughout the study into SPSS
•
Library Assistant, August 2007-July 2011
Veterinary Medical Library, Purdue University
Assisted patrons with locating, borrowing, and returning of library resources
•
Integrating and cataloguing new library materials into library system
•
Book binding
•
Assisted Librarians with opening, closing, and maintenance of library and Materials
•
Answering patron questions about library policies and materials
•
Troubleshooting technical problems
•
Inventory of Library Materials
•
EXPERIMENTALTECHNIQUES
SPSS-used to assess data collected from experiment
•
E-Prime-used to construct the RSVP trials for the Attentional Blink research
•
Tobii Eye Tracker/ Eyelink Eye Tracker
•
EEG machines
•
ACTIVITIES/HONORS
Served as Study Abroad Ambassador for IES London program (August 2010-
•
Present)
Published poetry in literary edition of student newspaper, The Exponent, (December
•
2008, May 2009, December 2009)
volunteer in New Orleans for Ultimate Spring Break Challenge, a university
•
sponsored community service week-long event (March 2008)
REFERENCES
Alex Arfston: 5364 FM 1960 Rd East, Houston, Texas, 77346
Phone: 631-***-****
Dr. Davina Liard: Longfield Academy, Main Road, Longfield, DA3 7PH
Email: ******.*****@****************.***
Dr. Mario Weick: School of Psychology, Keynes College, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NP,
UK
Email: ******@****.**.**
Phone: +441********
Travis Dorsch: Department of Health and Kinesiology, 800 W. Stadium Avenue, LAMB 315A, West
Lafayette, IN 47907
Email: ******@******.***
Phone: +1-765-***-****
Dr. David Rollock: Department of Psychological Sciences, 703 Third Street, PSYC, room 1130B, West
Lafayette, IN 47907 USA
Email: *******@*****.******.***
Phone: +1-765-***-****
Dr. Jeffrey Karpicke: 703 Third Street, PSYC, room 3156, West Lafayette, IN 47907 USA
Email: ********@******.***
Phone: +1-765-***-****