{"id":3991,"date":"2024-12-12T18:04:41","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T18:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/case\/?p=3991"},"modified":"2025-06-04T15:54:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T19:54:54","slug":"meet-audrey-michal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/case\/2024\/12\/12\/meet-audrey-michal\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Audrey Michal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Assistant Professor of Psychology<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding how we make decisions is at the core of Audrey Michal\u2019s research. \u201cIn theory, we should all be making data-driven, evidence-based decisions, but in practice, it looks wildly different depending on who you talk to,\u201d she shares. \u201cHow we research our options, who we consider to be reputable sources of information, the impact our decisions have on both ourselves and our community\u2014these all have profound implications for contemporary society. I find it fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally from Chicago, Audrey began her academic career at the University of Pennsylvania studying neuroscience and always knew she wanted to pursue research. \u201cEarly 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<\/a> than to purely how the brain physically works, so I switched fields,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI had outstanding professors and a lot of research opportunities\u2014even 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!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While at the University of Pennsylvania, Audrey met her husband, who got a job at GM. \u201cI 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,\u201d she says. Audrey secured a tenure-track faculty position at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa; however, her husband couldn\u2019t find suitable work in the area, so they eventually moved back to Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d Audrey explains. \u201cOne of my co-workers saw the position open at UM-Flint, and when they shared it with me, I thought, \u2018This is exactly me!\u2019 so I jumped at the opportunity. It ramped up super fast, but everyone is so welcoming and it\u2019s 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\u2019ve finally found my professional home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Audrey\u2019s work with collaborator Priti Shah in Ann Arbor formed the basis of her recent talk at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society<\/a> in NYC. \u201cOur presentation was titled Overinterpretations of Science Findings Among Laypeople <\/em>and explored what happens when you give people different amounts of information about a scientific study and how that might inform their decision making,\u201d she explains. \u201cOften, journalists will take scientific information and omit certain elements that don\u2019t 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\u2019s not always the case. For example, a study\u2019s 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\u2019t make that connection and often believe that the results immediately apply to humans, too. The scientists know it\u2019s too big of a leap from mice to humans, but the general public often doesn\u2019t think about that. So we\u2019re sharing our findings on how people use this rather limited understanding as the basis of sometimes major decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Audrey isn\u2019t engaged in research or teaching students, she\u2019s raising her two kids, 9-year-old Max and 7-year-old Molly. \u201cMax is very involved in baseball and sports in general, and Molly is the musician\u2014she does hip-hop dance and is just learning how to play the drums,\u201d Audrey shares. \u201cI\u2019m also the Girl Scout Troop Leader for Molly\u2019s Daisy Troop. We have such a great time!\u201dAs for her professional goals, Audrey is happy to call UM-Flint home. \u201cI am thrilled to be in such a special place, to work on research and connect with students,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m 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<\/a>! I\u2019d love to work with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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I wish I would have learned sooner that luck, randomness, and chance are powerful things<\/strong>.

All my studies bombed for the first two years of grad school, and I internalized that\u2014what was I doing wrong<\/strong>?

I realized that so many elements out of my control fluctuate and influence outcomes\u2014both in research and life<\/strong>.

You can work incredibly hard<\/strong> and still not do well<\/strong>!

But don\u2019t get demoralized<\/strong>; just keep working at it<\/strong>.

You\u2019ll get there eventually<\/strong>.<\/p>Audrey’s Insights<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a>
Audrey and her family on a recent adventure to see the Detroit Tigers play baseball<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Audrey Loves …<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/a>
Audrey with Max and Molly on the slopes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n