“I was amazed at how well the behavioural procedures worked”: Dr. Michael Palmer’s Research in Organizational Behaviour Management

(Photo provided by Michael Palmer)

“I enrolled in my university’s introductory psychology class and thought that it would be interesting to apply the concepts I learned to people at work. I enrolled in a class about behaviour analysis shortly after.” ~Michael Palmer

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*In the following interview, TS refers to The Synapse and MP refers to Michael Palmer;

TS: Could you briefly introduce yourself, what brought you to UNB, and how long you’ve been at UNB?

MP: I’m Michael Palmer and I am an Assistant Teaching Professor at UNB. I have a passion for teaching ways to improve the quality of life for various populations. There is so much negativity in this world - we could all use a little more positive reinforcement. I’m originally from Michigan, and have been at UNB for a little over 5 years. I came to UNB in the summer of 2017 to direct the Certificate in Applied Behaviour Analysis Program, but what really attracted me to UNB was the sense of community in the Psychology Department.

TS: What is your research area, and how did you settle on this area?

MP: My published research area is in organizational behaviour management, specifically performance feedback. Briefly put, this is an area that uses the behaviorism framework - to influence behaviour by changing aspects of the environment - to optimize workplace efficiency and overall employee quality of work-life.

I settled on this area because I enrolled in an organizational behaviour management class as an undergraduate while working as an assistant manager at a local restaurant. One of the projects for the class involved applying the class content to real life, so I applied it to my job at the restaurant. Specifically, the restaurant had an issue with employees clocking in early. While other managers would deal with this by writing up the employees, I employed a feedback system informing employees how much they were collectively clocking in early. This significantly reduced instances of employees clocking in early. I was amazed at how well the behavioural procedures worked for managing “bad employee behaviour” compared to traditional workplace methods, and was hooked.

TS: How do you come up with research ideas, and gauge when an idea is worthwhile to pursue?

MP: I generally let my curiosity guide my research ideas. This works really well with the inductive nature of behaviour analysis research. My research ideas usually start with “I wonder what would happen if we changed this part” and then I look at the literature to see if it has been researched or not. To me, a good research question is one whose answer might help to understand the overarching phenomenon. For instance, the idea for my masters thesis (“A Comparison of Accurate and Inaccurate Performance Feedback on College Students Doing Data Entry Tasks”) came from me wondering whether performance feedback needed to be accurate to change behaviour. Nobody had researched that in my field so we did the experiment and found out that it indeed doesn’t have to be accurate to be effective.

TS: What do you consider traits of a strong student and student researcher?

MP: For both, I think a top trait is a genuine curiosity about what they are studying or researching. If you have a genuine curiosity about something, you will be able to take things learned in classes that are seemingly irrelevant and connect them to the thing you are curious about. Another top trait for me is persistence. In both the classroom and in research, you are going to encounter roadblocks or setbacks: a poor grade in a required class, or null results. You cannot let those instances stop you. Learn from them, remind yourself of your curiosities and your goals, and keep going.

TS: Why did you choose to study psychology, and at what point did you know you wanted to pursue it? Is there any discipline you seriously considered other than psychology?

MP: I was actually initially interested in entrepreneurship as my major in university. Having experience as an assistant manager of a restaurant, I wanted to run one myself where employees were treated well. But it didn’t take long for me to realize that entrepreneurship wasn’t for me. I enrolled in my university’s introductory psychology class and thought that it would be interesting to apply the concepts I learned to people at work. I enrolled in a class about behaviour analysis shortly after. I was initially turned off by it, but a few years later I enrolled in another class (the organizational behaviour management course) and was hooked.

TS: Do you have a favourite psychological film/ book/ song/ artwork/ etc? If so, which, and what do you like about it?

MP: I would say my favourite psychological film is Shutter Island. I like that it can be watched from two or more perspectives and provides a glimpse into mid-1900s psychiatric care.

TS: Is there anything else you wish to share about yourself as a psych professor and researcher?

MP: I’ve been expanding my research projects while at UNB. I’m currently looking at the connections between praise and reinforcement, the use of social validity measures in practice, and most recently, at the connections between social media use, impulsivity, psychological flexibility, and burnout in university students.

In my classes, you can expect a few things: 1) some lecture; 2) various forms of participatory learning, usually in the form of semi-frequent small group discussions; 3) various forms of active learning, usually in the form of practicing what we learned; and 4) semi-frequent testing of the material. Consistent with my views on human behaviour, learning requires doing and you will practice different forms of understanding in my classes. Ψ

Created for The Synapse by Incé Husain.