He is known for his research on self-knowledge and the influence of the unconscious mind on decision-making, preferences and behavior.
Wilson received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in psychology from Hampshire College in 1973.
He received a Master of Arts in 1975 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1977, both in psychology from the University of Michigan.
With Richard Nisbett, Wilson authored one of psychology's most cited papers, "Telling more than we can know – verbal reports on mental processes," that demonstrated the difficulty humans have in introspecting on their own mental processes (Psychological Review, 1977,[2] cited 2731 times as of May 22, 2007, according to ISI Web of Knowledge).
Timothy D. Wilson also contributed as an author in co-writing Social Psychology (9th Edition)[3]