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David Lubinski

Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Psychology
Co-Director, Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY)
Investigator, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development

Professor Lubinski's interests are concentrated on psychological measurement and assessing individual differences in human behavior. Using longitudinal methods, his empirical research is focused on the identification of different types of intellectually precocious youth and the conditions for enhancing their learning, work performance, and creativity. With Camilla Benbow, he co-directs the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY), a longitudinal study of over 5000 intellectually talented participants, initially identified before age 13. His framework for studying talent development is best described in Lubinski and Benbow (2000, 2006) and his psychological orientation is found in Lubinski (1996, 2000, 2004).

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Representative Publications

Names in italics are students or postdocs:

Lubinski, D., Benbow, C. P., McCabe, K. O., & Bernstein, B. O. (2023). Composing meaningful lives: Exceptional women and men at age 50. Gifted Child Quarterly, 67, 278–305. View in PDF

Kell, H. J., McCabe, K. O., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2022). Wrecked by success? Not to worry. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 17, 1291-1321. View in PDF

Bernstein, B. O., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2021). Academic acceleration in gifted youth and fruitless concerns regarding psychological well-being: A 35-year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113 (4), 830-845. View in PDF

Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2021). Intellectual precocity: What have we learned since Terman? Gifted Child Quarterly, 65, 3-28. View in PDF

Lubinski, D. (2020). Understanding educational, occupational, and creative outcomes requires assessing intra-individual differences in abilities and interests. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117, 16720-16722. View in PDF

McCabe, K. O., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2020). Who shines most among the brightest?: A 25-year longitudinal study of elite STEM graduate students. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119, 390-416. View in PDF

Bernstein, B. O., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2019). Psychological constellations assessed at age 13 predict distinct forms of eminence 35 years later. Psychological Science, 30, 444-454. View in PDF

Lubinski, D. (2016). From Terman to today: A century of findings on intellectual precocity. Review of Educational Research, 86, 900-944. View in PDF
 
Makel, M. C., Kell, H. J., Lubinski, D., Putallaz, M, & Benbow, C. P. (2016). When lightning strikes twice: Profoundly gifted, profoundly accomplished. Psychological Science, 27, 1004-1018. View in PDF
 
Lubinski, D., Benbow, C.P., & Kell, H.J. (2014). Life paths and accomplishments of mathematically precocius males and females four decades later. Psychological Science, 25, 2217–2232. View in PDF
 
Kell, H. J., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2013).  Who rises to the top? Early Indicators. Psychological Science, 24, 648-659. View in PDF
 
Kell, H. J., Lubinski, D., Benbow, C. P., & Steiger, J. H. (2013). Creativity and technical innovation: Spatial ability’s unique role. Psychological Science, 24, 1831-1836. View in PDF
 
Park, G., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2013). When less is more: Effects of grade skipping on adult STEM accomplishments among mathematically precocious youth.  Journal of Educational Psychology, 105, 176-198. View in PDF
 
Lubinski, D. (2010). Neglected aspects and truncated appraisals in vocational counseling: Interpreting the interest-efficacy association from a broader perspective. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 57, 226-238. View in PDF
 
Wai, J., Lubinski, D., Benbow, C. P., & Steiger, J. H. (2010). Accomplishment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and its relation to STEM educational dose: A 25-year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 860-871. View in PDF
 
Ferriman, K., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2009). Work preferences, life values, and personal views of top math/science graduate students and the profoundly gifted: Developmental changes and sex differences during emerging adulthood and parenthood.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 517-532. View in PDF
 
Lubinski, D. (2009).  Cognitive epidemiology: With emphasis on untangling cognitive ability and socioeconomic status. Intelligence, 37, 625-633.  [Special Issue: Cognitive Epidemiology, Guest Edited by Ian J. Deary.] View in PDF
 
Wai, J., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2009). Spatial ability for STEM domains: Aligning over fifty years of cumulative psychological knowledge solidifies its importance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101, 817-835. View in PDF

Park, G., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2008). Ability differences among people who have commensurate degrees matter for scientific creativity. Psychological Science, 19, 957-961. View in PDF

Park, G., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2007). Contrasting intellectual patterns for creativity in the arts and sciences: Tracking intellectually precocious youth over 25 years. Psychological Science, 18, 948-952. View in PDF

Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2006). Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth after 35 years: Uncovering antecedents for the development of math-science expertise. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 316-345. View in PDF
 
Lubinski, D. (2004). Introduction to the special section on cognitive abilities: 100 years after Spearman’s (1904) “‘General intelligence,’ objectively determined and measured.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 96-111. View in PDF