Greg Willard CV - WJH Home Page - Harvard University

GREG WILLARD
Curriculum Vitæ
Department of Psychology willard@wjh.harvard.edu
Harvard University voice: (617)694-8211
William James Hall fax: (617)495-3728
33 Kirkland Street http://willard.socialpsychology.org
Cambridge MA 02138 http://wjh.harvard.edu/~willard
Higher Education
Research Associate (2010-present)
Postdoctoral Fellow (2007-2010)
Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Advisors: Mahzarin R. Banaji, Ph.D.; Wendy Berry Mendes, Ph.D.
Ph.D. Social Psychology (2007)
M.A. Social Psychology (2004)
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA
Advisor: Richard H. Gramzow, Ph.D.
B.A. Psychology, magna cum laude (2001)
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Thesis Advisor: Toni Schmader, Ph.D.
Research Interests
Social Cognition; Emotion; Stress and Health; Judgment and Decision Making
Nonverbal Communication; Psychophysiology; Social Neuroscience
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Willard, G., & Gramzow, R. H. (2009). Beyond oversights, lies, and pies in the sky:
Exaggeration as goal projection. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35,
477-492.
Gramzow, R. H., Willard, G., & Mendes, W. B. (2008). Big tales and cool heads:
Academic exaggeration is related to cardiac vagal reactivity. Emotion, 8, 138-144.
Willard, G., & Gramzow, R. H. (2008). Exaggeration in memory: Systematic distortion
of self-evaluative information under reduced accessibility. Journal of Experimental
Social Psychology, 44, 246-259.
Gramzow, R. H., & Willard, G. (2006). Exaggerating current and past performance:
Motivated self-enhancement vs. reconstructive memory. Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1114-1125.

Selected Popular Media Coverage
US News & World Report (5/2009)
“We're all lying liars: Why people tell lies, and why white lies can be OK”
The Globe and Mail (9/2008)
“Exaggerating your abilities sets bar higher for yourself”
National Public Radio (5/2008)
“I’m not gonna lie to you…”
The New York Times (5/2008)
“I’m not lying, I’m telling a future truth. Really.”
Courses Taught
Harvard University (2007-present)
-Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Tutorial (instructor)
-Senior Thesis Seminar (instructor)
-Social Function of Emotion (section leader)
-Methods of Behavioral Research (section leader)
-Introduction to Social Psychology (section leader)
-Introduction to Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences (section leader)
Northeastern University (2002-2007)
-Methods of Research in Social Psychology (teaching assistant)
-Methods of Research in Personality Psychology (teaching assistant)
-Behavioral Statistics (teaching assistant)
-Introductory Psychology (teaching assistant)
Research Consulting
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Consultant for federally, institutionally, and privately funded research programs.
Design and maintenance of psychophysiology laboratories; computer networks;
programming for event-related psychophysiology studies; tutoring undergraduate thesis,
doctoral, and postdoctoral students (basic and advanced statistical methods,
psychophysiology signal processing and data analysis).
-Department of Psychology, Harvard University
-MRAC, LLC; The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory
-Emotion, Health and Psychophysiology Laboratory, Harvard University
-Behavioral Research Laboratory, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University
-Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Northeastern University

Scientific Reviews
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Emotion; Journal of Nonverbal Behavior; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology;
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin; Psychological Science
Selected Honors and Awards
David C. McClelland Fellowship (Postdoctoral Research Award; 2009-2010)
“Implicit motives in first impressions: Automatic, effortless, and effective”
The McClelland Center for Research and Innovation
George W. Goethals Awards (Excellence in Teaching; 2008, 2009)
Social and Cognitive Neuroscience Tutorial
Department of Psychology, Harvard University
Graduate Student Travel Awards
-Graduate and Professional Student Association, Northeastern University (2004-2007)
-Society for Personality and Social Psychology (2003)
Selected Presentations
Willard, G. (2010, November). Twisted thought: Sex, gender, and spatial ability.
Understand Seminar, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Willard, G. (2009, July). The automatic and reflexive emotions: Orienting, startle, and
Defense. Undergraduate Summer Internship Program, Emotion, Health and
Psychophysiology Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Willard, G. (2009, March). ANSLAB: The unofficial companion. Emotion, Health and
Psychophysiology Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Willard, G., Koslov, K., & Mendes, W. B. (2008, October). Social attitudes within
context: Evidence of conditional race bias in the defensive startle reflex. Poster
presented to the Society for Psychophysiological Research, Austin, TX.
Willard, G. (2008, July). What can bodily reflexes tell us about social attitudes?
Undergraduate Summer Internship Program, Emotion, Health and Psychophysiology
Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Willard, G., & Gramzow, R. H. (2008, May). Beyond oversights, lies, and pies in the
sky: Exaggeration as goal projection. Understand Seminar, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA.
Gramzow, R. H., & Willard, G. (2008, April). Academic exaggeration and improvement:
Cognitive, motivational, and physiological mechanisms. Paper presented to the
British Psychological Society, Dublin, Ireland.

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Willard, G., & Gramzow, R. H. (2008, February). Exaggeration vs. reality in the
academic domain: Implications for stress and performance. Poster presented to the
Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Albuquerque, NM.
Gramzow, R. H., & Willard, G. (2007, January). The varieties of academic
exaggeration. In J. K. McNulty and E. M. O’Mara (Chairs), Moderators of the
Benefits of Positive Biases. Symposium conducted at the meetings of the Society for
Personality and Social Psychology, Memphis, TN.
Willard, G., Gramzow, R. H., & Mendes, W. B. (2007, January). Is the motivation to
exaggerate functional or dysfunctional? Evidence from affective, motivational, and
cardiovascular correlates. Poster presented to the Society for Personality and Social
Psychology, Memphis, TN.
Willard, G. (2006, July). Programming an event-related psychophysiology study.
Summer “Boot Camp” in Psychophysiology, Emotion, Health and Psychophysiology
Laboratory, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Gramzow, R. H., & Willard, G. (2006, June). Exaggeration: Multiple motives and
consequences. Invited presentation during the 18th annual Duck Conference on
Social Cognition, Corolla, NC.
Gramzow, R. H., & Willard, G. (2006, January). Predicting and reacting to the 2004
Presidential Election: I knew it all along, damn it! In R. H. Gramzow (Chair), The
psychology of the 2004 US Presidential election: Predictors of candidate preference
and reactions to defeat. Symposium conducted at the meetings of the Society for
Personality and Social Psychology, Palm Springs, CA.
Willard, G., & Gramzow, R. H. (2006, January). Self-enhancement and academic
performance: The relation between exaggeration and improvement. Poster
presented to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Palm Springs, CA.
Gramzow, R. H., & Willard, G. (2005, October). Self-evaluation bias: Exaggerating the
present, misremembering the past. Paper presented to the Society of Experimental
Social Psychology, San Diego, CA.
Willard, G., & Gramzow, R. H. (2005, February). Distorted memory of self-evaluative
information: The role of reconstructive processing. Poster presented to the Society
for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA.
Gramzow, R. H., & Willard, G. (2004, October). Self-evaluation bias and performance.
Paper presented to the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, Fort Worth, TX.

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Willard, G., & Gramzow, R. H. (2004, September). Bias in recall of self-evaluative
information. Poster presented to the New England Society for Social Psychology,
Storrs, CT.
Willard, G., & Gramzow, R. H. (2004, February). Self-evaluation bias and memory: The
roles of self-concept and time. Poster presented to the Society for Personality and
Social Psychology, Austin, TX.
Gramzow, R. H., & Willard, G. (2003, October). Exaggerating academic performance: If
not now, then when? Paper presented during the annual meeting of the Society of
Experimental Social Psychology, Boston, MA.