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Contact Information

Education

Ph.D. - Colorado State University

M.S. - Colorado State University

B.S. - Colorado State University

Professional/Academic Experience

William Douglas Woody, Ph.D. joined the faculty at the University of Northern Colorado in 2002, when he arrived from his faculty position at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire. He teaches and conducts research in psychology and law, history of psychology, and the teaching of psychology.  He became a Fellow in the American Psychological Association in 2014. In addition to other awards, he has received Early Career Achievement Awards from the Society for the History of Psychology, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, and the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association. At the University of Northern Colorado, he has received numerous College and University teaching and scholarship awards, including the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences Teaching award (2005, 2009, 2013), the University of Northern Colorado Academic Excellence Award for Teaching Excellence in Undergraduate Education, and the Sears Helgoth Distinguished Teaching Award, of which he was the first recipient. In addition to other scholarly recognitions, he has received the A.M. and Jo Winchester Distinguished Scholar Award from the University of Northern Colorado. Professor Woody also Co-Chaired the University of Northern Colorado Campus Climate Assessment and engages in other service roles at University of Northern Colorado, in the Rocky Mountain Region as the Archivist/Historian for the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, and nationally through the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (APA Division Two). 

Other Experience

Professor Woody teaches a wide range of undergraduate and graduate classes, including Psychology and the Law (PSY365), History of Psychology (PSY590), Psychology of Prejudice (PSY467), Psychology of Religion (PSY495), and Social Psychology (PSY265 and PSY664).  He has developed a unique course in psychology and law, the Seminar in the Psychology of Interrogation and Confession (PSY495). 

In his classes, Professor Woody models scientific humility and a curious attitude toward psychological science and applications.  In all of his classes, he seeks to promote critical thinking, active participation, and dialectic, and he emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion.  Professor Woody incorporates both current data and historical perspectives in the examination of ideas.  Each class session is unique, organic experience that is shaped by students’ contributions and questions.  He hopes that students take ideas seriously and recognize the work that ideas do in the world.  He aspires to be an inspirational teacher who motivates students with actions as much as with words. 

Research/Areas of Interest

Professor Woody teaches a wide range of undergraduate and graduate classes, including Psychology and the Law (PSY365), History and Systems of Psychology (PSY590), Psychology of Prejudice (PSY467), Psychology of Religion (PSY495), and Social Psychology (PSY265 and PSY664).  He has recently developed a unique course in psychology and law, the Seminar in the Psychology of Interrogation and Confession (PSY495).

Professor Woody’s scholarship reaches across psychology and law, history of psychology, and teaching of psychology. His primary program of research in psychology and law evaluates potential criminal and civil jurors’ perceptions of confession evidence. He combines his psychology and law interests in his historical scholarship, which, among other topics, explores the emergence of the Cold War body of interrogation scholarship that would guide the later actions of psychologists who served as Department of Defence interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, as described in the Hoffman Report (2015). Additionally, he engages in scholarship of teaching and learning at Â鶹´«Ã½ and in collaboration with scholars across the nation.

Publications/Creative Works

Representative Books

Woody, W. D., & Forrest, K. D. (March, 2020). Understanding Police Interrogation: Confessions and Consequences.  New York, NY: New York University Press. 

Woody, W. D., & Miller, R. L. (Eds.). (2020). Administration of a student friendly psychology conference: Challenges and opportunities.  Electronic book: Society for the Teaching of Psychology.  Retrieved from  

Woody, W. D., & Viney, W. (2017).  A History of Psychology: The Emergence of Science and Applications (6^th ed.).  New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

Viney, W., & Woody, W. D. (2017).  Neglected Perspectives on Science and Religion: Historical and Contemporary Relations.  New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

Woody, W. D., Miller, R. L., & Wozniak, W. (Eds.). (2016).  Enriching the Classroom Experience with History: Psychological Specialties in Context.  Electronic book: Society for the Teaching of Psychology.  Retrieved from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology web site:

Representative Journal Articles

Woody, W. D. (OnlineFirst). Tracing the Career Arc of Joost A. M. Meerloo: Prominence, Fading, and Premonitions of Menticide.  History of the Human Sciences. 

Woody, W. D., Gretz, D., LaFary, K., & Rosenblum, C. (2022). (Un)Ethical Consequences: How Psychology’s Cold War Defense of Military Personnel Led to Enhanced Interrogation Techniques in the War on Terror. American Psychologist, 77(2), 221-233. doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Famp0000761 

Woody, W. D., Payne, J. W., LaFary, K., Gretz, D., & Rosenblum, C. (2020). Investigating Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation: Recognizing the Legacy of the Cold War. International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation, 1, 1-16. 

Woody, W. D., Stewart, J. M., Forrest, K. D., Camacho, L. J., Woestehoff, S. A., Provenza, K. R., Walker, A. T., & Powner, S. J. (2018). Effects of False-Evidence Ploys and Expert Testimony on Perceptions and Decisions of Jurors, Juries, and Judges.  Cogent Psychology, 5, 1-22. 

Stewart, J. M., Woody, W. D., & Pulos, S.  (2018).  The Prevalence of False Confessions in Research Studies: A Meta-Analysis.  Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 36, 12-31.