Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth

The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) is a prospective longitudinal survey study of persons (mostly in the United States) identified by scores of 700 or higher on a section of the SAT Reasoning Test before age 13 years. It is one of the longest-running longitudinal studies of gifted youth in world history. Study scholars have used survey data from study participants to advance hypotheses about talent development and occupational preferences.

The Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth was founded by Julian Stanley in 1971 at Johns Hopkins University. In 1986, the study headquarters moved to Iowa State University, where Camilla Benbow led the study until 1990. Since that year, the study has been led by Benbow and David Lubinski. In 1998, the study headquarters moved again, this time to Vanderbilt University.

SMPY is the longest-running current longitudinal study of gifted children in the United States. Subjects are identified by high scores on the SAT Reasoning Test, which they take at or before the age of 13 years. Eligibility for the study is contingent on scoring at least 700 out of a possible 800 standard score points on the SAT by age 13 years (with prorated eligibility for higher scores up to age 13 years and 10 months). Participation in the Talent Search testing that involves children of that age sitting the SAT is voluntary.

Participation in SMPY is voluntary for students who attain eligible scores. Although after the first year, Stanley decided to include students with exceptional scores in either the mathematics or verbal sections of the SAT test, for inclusion in what is called the Study of Exceptional Talent, the name SMPY has been retained for the ongoing follow-up surveys. Follow-up surveys were sent to study participants after five, ten, twenty, and thirty-five years. Benbow and Lubinski and their colleagues have used the survey responses to explore individual differences among intellectually able individuals. The study population is analyzed by division into several subgroups.

The survey responses suggest that the profoundly gifted have different educational needs and accomplish much more in school and work than moderately gifted. Talented males and females also have differing abilities, interests, and lifestyle preferences, although they often express similar levels of intellectual satisfaction and achieve advanced educational credentials at similar rates. The sex differences other investigators have found on the things-people dimension in normative populations have been manifested in education and work, among the adolescents Benbow, Lubinski, and their associates have studied. SMPY has found that talented individuals with marked tilts tend to pursue careers that draw upon their cognitive strengths. Highly able youth with notably stronger mathematical than verbal ability often study and work in science and engineering, whereas adolescents with better scores on the verbal section than the mathematical one frequently went into the humanities, arts, social science, or law. Individuals with comparable mathematical and verbal ability did not follow such clear-cut trajectories, although many males with the "high-flat" ability profile pursued educational and vocational pursuits in science.

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