Michael W. McHale (He/Him)
@michaelwmchale.bsky.social
Cog Psych Ph.D. student @Kentstatepsych • M.A. @UNCG_Psych • Grad Student Ambassador @APADivision15 • Mind-Wandering, Attention, Monitoring and Evaluation • Former Evaluation intern @SmithsonianInstitution
Pinned
Excited to share my first publication! TLDR; mind-wandering is contagious & classmate behavior can cause an increase in task-unrelated thoughts! Thank you to my collaborator, @michaeljkane.bsky.social for guidance throughout this project.
You can read it here - online.ucpress.edu/collabra/art...
You can read it here - online.ucpress.edu/collabra/art...
Reposted by Michael W. McHale (He/Him)
PS is excited to announce the launch of "Individual Differences in Cognition” (IDIC), an open-access journal on research in cognitive psychology, science, and neuroscience. Co-Editors-in-Chief are Andrew R.A. Conway & Michael J. Kane. Manuscripts accepted this spring. More information coming soon!
November 22, 2025 at 10:09 PM
PS is excited to announce the launch of "Individual Differences in Cognition” (IDIC), an open-access journal on research in cognitive psychology, science, and neuroscience. Co-Editors-in-Chief are Andrew R.A. Conway & Michael J. Kane. Manuscripts accepted this spring. More information coming soon!
Reposted by Michael W. McHale (He/Him)
Jonny Smallwood @themindwanders.bsky.social was a beloved friend and mentor. He was taken from us too soon. His was a beautiful mind who understood the beauty of minds. As ever before, his kind voice guides me and his work will continue. We miss you Jonny. www.cbs.mpg.de/news/obituar...
Obituary – Jonathan Smallwood
www.cbs.mpg.de
November 13, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Jonny Smallwood @themindwanders.bsky.social was a beloved friend and mentor. He was taken from us too soon. His was a beautiful mind who understood the beauty of minds. As ever before, his kind voice guides me and his work will continue. We miss you Jonny. www.cbs.mpg.de/news/obituar...
Reposted by Michael W. McHale (He/Him)
Collaborate with us!! #workingmemory
Call for collaborators! 🧵
The TL;DR: we seek collaborators on a #ManyLabs #RegisteredReport about what causes rapid forgetting.
In-principle accepted Stage 1: osf.io/ahjn5
Expressions of interest: cardiffunipsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Further details in the 🧵:
The TL;DR: we seek collaborators on a #ManyLabs #RegisteredReport about what causes rapid forgetting.
In-principle accepted Stage 1: osf.io/ahjn5
Expressions of interest: cardiffunipsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Further details in the 🧵:
September 28, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Collaborate with us!! #workingmemory
Reposted by Michael W. McHale (He/Him)
1/ Why are we so easily distracted? 🧠 In our new EEG preprint w/ Henry Jones, @monicarosenb.bsky.social and @edvogel.bsky.social we show that distractibility is associated w/ reduced neural connectivity — and can be predicted from EEG with ~80% accuracy using machine learning.
September 28, 2025 at 7:14 PM
1/ Why are we so easily distracted? 🧠 In our new EEG preprint w/ Henry Jones, @monicarosenb.bsky.social and @edvogel.bsky.social we show that distractibility is associated w/ reduced neural connectivity — and can be predicted from EEG with ~80% accuracy using machine learning.
Reposted by Michael W. McHale (He/Him)
ANSWER: 0 (yes, ZERO!)
This is a result of an analysis done by a student in my grad seminar, using a large dataset (N=307,313).
What this result might mean: Nobody's personality is truly "average," and people's personality profiles (at least Big 5) might be more "jagged" than we think.
(🧵 1/5)
This is a result of an analysis done by a student in my grad seminar, using a large dataset (N=307,313).
What this result might mean: Nobody's personality is truly "average," and people's personality profiles (at least Big 5) might be more "jagged" than we think.
(🧵 1/5)
Imagine you have Big 5 personality scores from over 300,000 people. You designate the scores in the "mean +/- 0.25 SDs" range for each trait (~20%) as the average range.
QUESTION: How many people in this >300K sample do you think fall in the average range for ALL 5 TRAITS?
What's your answer?
QUESTION: How many people in this >300K sample do you think fall in the average range for ALL 5 TRAITS?
What's your answer?
September 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
ANSWER: 0 (yes, ZERO!)
This is a result of an analysis done by a student in my grad seminar, using a large dataset (N=307,313).
What this result might mean: Nobody's personality is truly "average," and people's personality profiles (at least Big 5) might be more "jagged" than we think.
(🧵 1/5)
This is a result of an analysis done by a student in my grad seminar, using a large dataset (N=307,313).
What this result might mean: Nobody's personality is truly "average," and people's personality profiles (at least Big 5) might be more "jagged" than we think.
(🧵 1/5)
Excited to share my first publication! TLDR; mind-wandering is contagious & classmate behavior can cause an increase in task-unrelated thoughts! Thank you to my collaborator, @michaeljkane.bsky.social for guidance throughout this project.
You can read it here - online.ucpress.edu/collabra/art...
You can read it here - online.ucpress.edu/collabra/art...
July 22, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Excited to share my first publication! TLDR; mind-wandering is contagious & classmate behavior can cause an increase in task-unrelated thoughts! Thank you to my collaborator, @michaeljkane.bsky.social for guidance throughout this project.
You can read it here - online.ucpress.edu/collabra/art...
You can read it here - online.ucpress.edu/collabra/art...
Thank you, Levi!
May 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Thank you, Levi!
Reposted by Michael W. McHale (He/Him)
Congrats to @michaelwmchale.bsky.social on his UNCG MA thesis ms on "attention contagion" being accepted at Collabra (he's now in PhD pgm at Kent State)! TLDR: People watching a online lecture mind-wander more if other visible attendees (confed's) look inattentive. drive.google.com/file/d/1UF2m...
McHale-Kane 2025-inpress, CollabraPSY [attn contagion online].pdf
drive.google.com
May 14, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Congrats to @michaelwmchale.bsky.social on his UNCG MA thesis ms on "attention contagion" being accepted at Collabra (he's now in PhD pgm at Kent State)! TLDR: People watching a online lecture mind-wander more if other visible attendees (confed's) look inattentive. drive.google.com/file/d/1UF2m...
Reposted by Michael W. McHale (He/Him)
This is now published in the Journal of Mathematical Psychology!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
with @annalschubert.bsky.social, @gidon-frischkorn.bsky.social, and Klaus Oberauer
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
with @annalschubert.bsky.social, @gidon-frischkorn.bsky.social, and Klaus Oberauer
April 11, 2025 at 10:08 AM
This is now published in the Journal of Mathematical Psychology!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
with @annalschubert.bsky.social, @gidon-frischkorn.bsky.social, and Klaus Oberauer
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
with @annalschubert.bsky.social, @gidon-frischkorn.bsky.social, and Klaus Oberauer
Ahh, the irony. I feel that something else might be contributing to the fragmentation of scientific knowledge, but can't put my finger on it? Any ideas, lol /s?
March 21, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Ahh, the irony. I feel that something else might be contributing to the fragmentation of scientific knowledge, but can't put my finger on it? Any ideas, lol /s?
Great news! For the past 7 months I have been applying for internships. I am proud to announce that I will be a program evaluation intern with the Smithsonian this summer! I am excited to contribute and make a difference. Attached is a plot that visualizes the process - hard, but worth it.
March 20, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Great news! For the past 7 months I have been applying for internships. I am proud to announce that I will be a program evaluation intern with the Smithsonian this summer! I am excited to contribute and make a difference. Attached is a plot that visualizes the process - hard, but worth it.
Reposted by Michael W. McHale (He/Him)
Troops on campus? We have experience with that. It's bad. Very, very, very bad. Some of us are very aware. To those that are not, here you go:
www.kent.edu/may-4-1970
www.kent.edu/may-4-1970
March 4, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Troops on campus? We have experience with that. It's bad. Very, very, very bad. Some of us are very aware. To those that are not, here you go:
www.kent.edu/may-4-1970
www.kent.edu/may-4-1970
Disgusted and disheartened.
RFK Jr. officially confirmed to head HHS, with only McConnell breaking ranks to vote no.
He'll oversee a $1.8 trillion agency, and have vast power to influence vaccines, public health & national policy
In his hearings, he expressed openness to restricting abortion nationally.
He'll oversee a $1.8 trillion agency, and have vast power to influence vaccines, public health & national policy
In his hearings, he expressed openness to restricting abortion nationally.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed as Trump’s health secretary
Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist, will be able to shape federal abortion policy and has expressed openness to national restrictions.
19thnews.org
February 13, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Disgusted and disheartened.
Reposted by Michael W. McHale (He/Him)
“Another unknown is whether NIH researchers will still be allowed to submit papers to peer-reviewed journals.” This is insanity, and could have major impact on entire fields of research worldwide (we all collaborate with one another)
"Officials halted midstream a training workshop for junior scientists, called off a workshop on adolescent learning minutes before it was to begin, and canceled meetings of two advisory councils."
It could've been telegraphed in advance. The fear, uncertainty, chaos, and disruption are the point.
It could've been telegraphed in advance. The fear, uncertainty, chaos, and disruption are the point.
Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring
Researchers facing
www.science.org
January 23, 2025 at 12:18 AM
“Another unknown is whether NIH researchers will still be allowed to submit papers to peer-reviewed journals.” This is insanity, and could have major impact on entire fields of research worldwide (we all collaborate with one another)
Reposted by Michael W. McHale (He/Him)
Entropy is one of those formulas that many of us learn, swallow whole, and even use regularly without really understanding.
(E.g., where does that “log” come from? Are there other possible formulas?)
Yet there's an intuitive & almost inevitable way to arrive at this expression.
(E.g., where does that “log” come from? Are there other possible formulas?)
Yet there's an intuitive & almost inevitable way to arrive at this expression.
December 9, 2024 at 10:44 PM
Entropy is one of those formulas that many of us learn, swallow whole, and even use regularly without really understanding.
(E.g., where does that “log” come from? Are there other possible formulas?)
Yet there's an intuitive & almost inevitable way to arrive at this expression.
(E.g., where does that “log” come from? Are there other possible formulas?)
Yet there's an intuitive & almost inevitable way to arrive at this expression.
Thank you to everyone that visited my poster at Psychonomics this year! It is always a joy to have great conversations and in-depth discussions about research! Here is to next year🎉.
December 5, 2024 at 6:57 PM
Thank you to everyone that visited my poster at Psychonomics this year! It is always a joy to have great conversations and in-depth discussions about research! Here is to next year🎉.