he Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) was founded by Julian C. Stanley on September 1, 1971, at Johns Hopkins University. Today it is conducted by two joint principal investigators: Camilla P. Benbow and David Lubinski. Benbow is the Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education & Human Development at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. Lubinski is professor of psychology at the same institution.
“When Julian C. Stanley started the SMPY, he was not only way ahead of his time but also prescient,” says Benbow. “He, like Sir John Templeton, understood well the importance of mathematical talent for economic, human, and societal well-being. They also anticipated the critical importance of nurturing mathematical talent through accelerative and enriching educational experiences, if it is to blossom fully and bear the fruit that society is dependent upon, as well as ensuring personal well-being.”
She and her co-principal investigator Lubinski are planning to complete a 50-year longitudinal study of five cohorts, composed of more than 5,000 intellectually gifted individuals, identified over a 25-year period (1972-1997). The objective of this research is to arrive at a better understanding of the unique needs of intellectually precocious youth and what determines the contrasting trajectories of development they exhibit over the life-span.
Lubinski describes the focus of the research, “Special educational opportunities, tailored to students’ individuality, can markedly enhance the process of developing high potential into outstanding achievement and creativity.” Both co-investigators bring appropriate academic experience to the research project. Besides her position as Dean at Peabody, Benbow is also professor in the department of psychology and human development and, in addition to three other degrees, holds a doctorate of education from Johns Hopkins University, the cradle of SMPY.
Her colleague David Lubinski received the Distinguished Scholar Award from the National Association for Gifted Children in 2006 and won the Templeton Award for Positive Psychology in 2000. “As SMPY moves towards 40 years of longitudinal research based on over 5,000 participants,” he says, “particular emphasis will be placed on the kinds of supports needed during the critical life stage between participants’ terminal degree and age 50.”
The title “Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth” has, through the passage of time and the widening of the project, become something of a misnomer: verbally precocious youth have now been included in the program for longitudinal tracking, and the participants are by now all adults. Four of SMPY’s cohorts were identified through talent searches by age 13. The cohorts vary in ability, ranging from the top three percent to the top 0.01 percent in quantitative or verbal reasoning ability.
A fifth cohort of 714 participants, identified much later as first or second-year graduate students attending top U.S. math/science programs in 1992, complements the other four cohorts by affording an opportunity to assess how far the talent search model can be generalized for identifying scientific potential. A ten-year follow-up of these math/science graduate students is now available.
The 20-year follow-up results for the first three cohorts are also available. The plan, already partially implemented, is to follow up all four cohorts of talent search participants at ages 18, 23, 33, 50, and 65. The older students in the fifth cohort will be followed up again at ages 50 and 65.
Benbow points out the practical significance of the research, in that “we can identify early those individuals who are likely to become future innovators and high-level producers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) domains; moreover, educational intervention increases the probability that they will indeed become such innovators. With the nation now worrying about STEM competitiveness and the world realizing the importance of this scarce human resource, findings from SMPY could not be timelier. They are informing public policy debates and the forging of policy.”
In addition to such outreach to public policy makers, the program has so far generated seven books and more than 300 articles. A recent monograph has also just appeared, relating the history of SMPY, detailing the selection criteria for each cohort, and outlining the major longitudinal findings of the research program.
Reviewing the origins and progress of SMPY, Benbow says of Sir John Templeton and Julian Stanley, “Through both their efforts that were driven by visionary ideas, we have been able to move beyond speculation on what might become possible if we were to nurture talent, to being able to show what indeed eventuates.”
And her colleague Lubinski, looking at the present status of the program and its prospects for the future, concludes, “This is an exciting time at SMPY as we attempt to reach a better understanding of how mathematically talented individuals take their intellectual gifts and scientific-technical training and elevate them to extraordinary heights for the greater good.”