Emily Willoughby

willo074@umn.edu

Psychology

N238 Elliott Hall

75 East River Parkway
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Curriculum Vitae

Collegiate Affiliation

Links

Open Science Framework

Emily Willoughby is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the behavior genetics lab of Dr. James J. Lee. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 2021 in the personality, individual differences and behavior genetics program area of psychology.

Emily's research focuses on exploring the genetic and cognitive causes of human intelligence in addition to its associated outcomes. Her current projects include several experimental studies of reaction time, working memory and attention; an adoption study of attitudes about free will and determinism; and biological annotation of a GWAS on mathematical ability. In addition to research at the UMN, she continues to work part time as a professional scientific illustrator and writer who specializes in research-based representations of prehistoric animals. She has recently published her second book, Drawing and Painting Dinosaurs, released in May 2022 in the US. Emily Willoughby's scientific illustration work can be found in the here.

Educational Background & Specialties

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Educational Background

Doctor of Philosophy: Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 2021
Master of Arts: Psychology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, 2019
Bachelor of Arts: Biology, Thomas Edison University, 2012

Specialties

intelligence
cognitive and biological psychology
behavior genetics
individual differences
scientific illustration

Publications

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Publications

Willoughby, E. A., Giannelis, A. and Iacono, W. G., McGue, M., & Vrieze, S. (2023). A century of behavioral genetics at the University of Minnesota. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 25(6), 211–225. DOI: 10.1017/thg.2023.1.
Giannelis, A., Willoughby, E. A., Corley, R., Hopfer, C., Hewitt, J., Iacono, W. G., Anderson, J., Rustichini, A., Vrieze, S. I., McGue, M., & Lee, J. J. (2023). The association between saving disposition and financial distress: A genetically informed approach. Journal of Economic Psychology, 96, 102610. DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2023.102610.
Howe, L. J., Rasheed, H., Jones, P. R., Boomsma, D. I., Evans, D. M., Giannelis, A., ... Willoughby, E. A. ... Brumpton, B., & Davies, N. M. (2023). Educational attainment, health outcomes and mortality: A within-sibship Mendelian randomization study. International Journal of Epidemiology, dyad079. DOI: 10.1093/ije/dyad079.
Willoughby, E. A., Polderman, T. J. C. & Boutwell, B. (2023). Behavior genetics methods. Nature Reviews Methods Primers, 3(10). DOI: 10.1038/s43586-022-00191-x.
Willoughby, E. A., Kim, Y., Lee, J. J., & DeYoung, C. G. (2023). The construct validity of Intellect and Openness as distinct aspects of personality through differential associations with reaction time. Journal of Intelligence, 11(2), 30. DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence11020030.
McGue, M., Anderson, E. A., Willoughby, E. A., Giannelis, A., Iacono, W. G., & Lee, J. J. (2022). Not by g alone: The benefits of a college education among individuals with low levels of general cognitive ability. Intelligence, 92, 101642. DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2022.101642.
Howe, L. J., Nivard, M. G., Morris, T., Hansen, A., Rasheed, H., Cho, Y., Chittoor, G., Lind, P., Palviainen, T., ... Giannelis, A., Willoughby, E. A., Andreassen, O., Ask, H. Corfield, E., Hughes, A., Magnus, P., Njolstad, P. R., Stoltenberg, C. Lee, J. J., Oskarsson, S. (2022). Within-sibship GWAS of 25 phenotypes improve estimates of direct genetic effects. Nature Genetics, 54, 581–592. DOI: 10.1038/s41588-022-01062-7.
Willoughby, E. A. (2021). Drawing and painting dinosaurs. Marlborough, UK: The Crowood Press. ISBN: 978-1785009556.
Willoughby, E. A. & Lee, J. J. (2021). Predicting cognitive ability differences from brain imaging and genetics data. In: The Cambridge handbook of intelligence and neuroscience. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-1108480543
Willoughby, E. A., Giannelis, A., Ludeke, S., Klemmensen, R., Nørgaard, A. S., Iacono, W. G., Lee, J. J., & McGue, M. (2021). Parent contributions to the development of political attitudes in adoptive and non-adoptive families. Psychological Science, 32(12), 2023–2034. DOI: 10.1177/09567976211021844.
Willoughby, E. A., & Lee, James J. (2021). Parsing information flow in speeded cognitive tasks: The associations of g with perception and decision time. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, 47(11), 1792–1809. DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001026
Willoughby, E. A., McGue, M., Iacono, W. G., & Lee, James J. (2021). The heritability of intelligence estimated in biological and adoptive families with 30-year-old offspring. Intelligence, 88(101579). DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2021.101579.
Willoughby, E. A., McGue, M., Iacono, W., Rustichini, A., & Lee, J. J. (2020). The role of parental genotype in predicting offspring years of education: Evidence for genetic nurture. Molecular Psychiatry, 26, 3896–3904. DOI: 10.1038/s41380-019-0494-1
Kane, J., & Willoughby, E. (2016/2020). God’s word or human reason? (2nd ed.) Portland, Oregon: Inkwater Press. ISBN: 978-1629016382. (Author & lead illustrator)
Gulsuner, S., Stein, D. J., Susser, E. S., Sibeko, G., Pretorius, A., Walsh, T., Majara, L., Mndini, M. M., Mqulwana, S. G., Ntola, O. A., Casadei, S., Ngqengelele, L. L., Korchina, V., van der Merwe, C., Malan, M., Fader, K. M., Feng, M., Willoughby, E. A. . . . & McClellan, J. M. (2020). Genetics of schizophrenia in the South African Xhosa. Science, 367(6477), 569–573. DOI: 10.1126/science.aay8833
McGue, M., Willoughby, E. A., Rustichini, A., Johnson, W., Iacono, W., & Lee, J. J. (2020). The contribution of cognitive and non-cognitive skills to intergenerational social mobility. Psychological Science, 31(7), 835–847. DOI: 10.1177/0956797620924677
Anderson, E. L., Saunders, G. R. B., Willoughby, E. A., Iacono, W. G., McGue, M. (2020). The role of the shared environment in college attainment: An adoption study. Journal of Personality, 89(3), 580–593. DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12600
Willoughby, E. A., Love, A. C., McGue, M., Iacono, W. G., Quigley, J., & Lee, J. J. (2019). Free will, determinism, and intuitive judgments about the heritability of behavior. Behavior Genetics, 49(2), 136–153. DOI: 10.1007/s10519-018-9931-1
Willoughby, E. A. & Boutwell, B. B. (2018). Importance of intelligence and emotional intelligence for physicians. Journal of the American Medical Association, 320(2), 205. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2018.6278
Lee, J. J., Wedow, R., Okbay, A., Kong, E., Maghzian, O., Zacher, M., Nguyen-Viet, T. A., Bowers, P., Sidorenko, J., Linner, R. K., Fontana, M. A., Kundu, T., Lee, C., Li, H., Li, R., Royer, R., Timshel, P. N., Walters, R. K., Willoughby, E. A. . . . Cesarini, D. (2018). Gene discovery and polygenic prediction from a 1.1-million-person GWAS of educational attainment. Nature Genetics, 50(8), 1112–1121. DOI: 10.1038/s41588-018-0147-3

Activities

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Activities

Professional

Postdoctoral Researcher: University of Minnesota Twin Cities Psychology, James J. Lee Lab. 2021–current
International Society for Intelligence Research: Board member and online administrator for the International Society for Intelligence Research. 2021–current

Creative

Scientific Illustration: Traditional and digital painting and drawing; specializing in naturalistic reconstructions of prehistoric animals and birds. 2010–current

Research

Graduate Research Assistant: Information flow in speeded cognitive tasks. Faculty advisor: James J. Lee. 2016–2018
Graduate Research Assistant: Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research. 2016–2020
Graduate Research Assistant: An adoption study of free will & determinism. Principal investigators: Matt McGue and James J. Lee. 2016–2019

Awards

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Awards

Early Career Award. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, Awarded by the Society for Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Science DIVISION 3, June 2022
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, awarded by the University of Minnesota Graduate School, 2020–2021
ISIR: Best Student Paper Award, awarded by the International Society for Intelligence Research in Montreal, Quebec, 2017
ISIR: Best Student Paper Award, awarded by the International Society for Intelligence Research in Minneapolis, MN, 2019
Department of Psychology Graduate Fellowship, awarded by the Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 2016–2017
David Campbell Graduate Research Fellowship, awarded by the Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Spring 2017; Spring 2018
Graduate Summer Research Fellowship, awarded by the Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Summers 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020
Nomination: Excellence in Teaching Award, nominated by teaching assistant Elise Anderson for PSY 3135: Introduction to Individual Differences, University of Minnesota, December 2020
Nomination: Best Dissertation Award, nominated by the Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, March 2021
Nomination: Outstanding Professional Paper Award, nominated by the Southeastern Psychological Association, January 2022

Courses

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Courses

PSY 5137: Introduction to Behavior Genetics (fall 2023; instructor)
PSY 3135: Introduction to Individual Differences (spring 2020; instructor)
PSY 3135: Introduction to Individual Differences (fall 2020; co-instructor)
PSY 3135: Introduction to Individual Differences (spring 2019; co-instructor)
PSY 3135: Introduction to Individual Differences (fall 2019; instructor)
PSY 3135: Introduction to Individual Differences (fall 2018; teaching assistant)
PSY 5137: Introduction to Behavior Genetics (fall 2017; teaching assistant)