Meet Audrey Michal

Assistant Professor of Psychology
How do you make big, important decisions in your life? Do you ask your friends and family for advice? Wade through endless sources on the internet? Consult ChatGPT?
Understanding how we make decisions is at the core of Audrey Michal’s research. “In theory, we should all be making data-driven, evidence-based decisions, but in practice, it looks wildly different depending on who you talk to,” she shares. “How we research our options, who we consider to be reputable sources of information, the impact our decisions have on both ourselves and our community—these all have profound implications for contemporary society. I find it fascinating.”
Originally from Chicago, Audrey began her academic career at the University of Pennsylvania studying neuroscience and always knew she wanted to pursue research. “Early in my studies, I found that a lot of the questions that I had, the areas that I was most interested in, were closer to psychology than to purely how the brain physically works, so I switched fields,” she recalls. “I had outstanding professors and a lot of research opportunities—even as an undergraduate. I loved being in the lab, working with other researchers, and being on campus. It was the life for me, so I have been all in on academia from early on!”
While at the University of Pennsylvania, Audrey met her husband, who got a job at GM. “I went to grad school at the University of Illinois, so we were long distance for 8 years. As a postdoc, I collaborated with someone at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, so in 2014, I moved and worked there for a few years,” she says. Audrey secured a tenure-track faculty position at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa; however, her husband couldn’t find suitable work in the area, so they eventually moved back to Michigan.
“I was working as an assistant research scientist in a lab supported primarily by grant funding, so that can be a somewhat precarious situation to be in, financially speaking,” Audrey explains. “One of my co-workers saw the position open at UM-Flint, and when they shared it with me, I thought, ‘This is exactly me!’ so I jumped at the opportunity. It ramped up super fast, but everyone is so welcoming and it’s just a great cultural fit. I can do so much more here than at a larger university with 300+ students in a class. I feel like I’ve finally found my professional home.”
Audrey’s work with collaborator Priti Shah in Ann Arbor formed the basis of her recent talk at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society in NYC. “Our presentation was titled Overinterpretations of Science Findings Among Laypeople and explored what happens when you give people different amounts of information about a scientific study and how that might inform their decision making,” she explains. “Often, journalists will take scientific information and omit certain elements that don’t fit their narrative, and so what kind of impact does that have? What kind of assumptions do people make? We often assume that something in the news must apply to us, but that’s not always the case. For example, a study’s test subjects might have been mice, and they could have produced fascinating results that might inspire future research to see if the results can be replicated in humans. However, lay readers don’t make that connection and often believe that the results immediately apply to humans, too. The scientists know it’s too big of a leap from mice to humans, but the general public often doesn’t think about that. So we’re sharing our findings on how people use this rather limited understanding as the basis of sometimes major decisions.”
When Audrey isn’t engaged in research or teaching students, she’s raising her two kids, 9-year-old Max and 7-year-old Molly. “Max is very involved in baseball and sports in general, and Molly is the musician—she does hip-hop dance and is just learning how to play the drums,” Audrey shares. “I’m also the Girl Scout Troop Leader for Molly’s Daisy Troop. We have such a great time!”As for her professional goals, Audrey is happy to call UM-Flint home. “I am thrilled to be in such a special place, to work on research and connect with students,” she says. “I’m also open to collaborating with current faculty and students on my research! If you are interested in how data and evidence might impact people’s decision-making, email me! I’d love to work with you.”
I wish I would have learned sooner that luck, randomness, and chance are powerful things.
Audrey’s Insights
All my studies bombed for the first two years of grad school, and I internalized that—what was I doing wrong?
I realized that so many elements out of my control fluctuate and influence outcomes—both in research and life.
You can work incredibly hard and still not do well!
But don’t get demoralized; just keep working at it.
You’ll get there eventually.
Audrey Loves …
- Reading and Watching Cozy Murder Mysteries. “I’ve been reading the Thursday Murder Club and just started Louise Penny’s Gamache series. Monk and Only Murders in the Building are two of my favorite TV shows in the genre. I love the camaraderie, humor, and community. Nothing too serious!”
- Knitting. “I have an American Doll from my childhood named Molly that my daughter Molly now plays with. They always have matching clothes for the dolls and the girls, but since this doll is so old, it’s hard to find matching clothes. So my goal is to knit a sweater for my daughter that matches the doll’s.”
- Skiing. “We love to ski! My husband and I went to Keystone, Colorado, for our honeymoon and our 10th anniversary, and we’re scheming how we can get the kids there! We want to take them out west to ski someday, but we’ll probably start more local and head up to the Petoskey area for them to learn.”
Crossroads Village & Huckleberry Railroad
“Super family fun! We took the kids there when they were younger and really enjoyed it.”