Psychologist honored for scholarly impact

Contact: Jeanne Baron
Photo of Dr. Douglas Johnson.

Dr. Douglas Johnson

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—An assistant professor of psychology at Western Michigan University is the first person to receive a new award that recognizes the impact research is having in the area of organizational behavior management.

Dr. Douglas Johnson was announced as the inaugural recipient of the Scholarly Impact Award during the annual Association for Behavior Analysis International Convention May 25-29.

The honor was created by the Organizational Behavior Management Network, which is a group associated with ABAI, and the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management. The network is the top professional organization for the application of behavior analysis to workplace settings, and the journal is the flagship publication for the discipline. The two entities plan to bestow their new award on an annual basis.

Douglas Johnson

Johnson was selected as the first recipient based on two of his Journal of Organizational Behavior Management articles. One article received the most citations for this year while the other was the most cited in 2013.

In addition to organizational behavior management, his research interests include instructional design and evidence-based education and training techniques, including computer-based instruction.

Johnson serves as director of undergraduate training for WMU's Department of Psychology. He has consulted internationally as well as provided services related to instructional design, training design and development, e-learning, performance management, systems analysis, fluency training, incentives, feedback and employee motivation from a behavior analytic perspective.

He earned a bachelor's degree from Central Michigan University in 2001, and a master's and doctoral degree from WMU in 2005 and 2009, respectively.

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