2010/12/01 by Kimberley Ferriman Robertson, Stijn Smeets, David Lubinski +1 · 139 citations
Engineering · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Assertion #Career Development and Diversity #Cognition #Cognitive Abilities and Testing #Cognitive psychology #Developmental psychology #Persistence (discontinuity) #Psychology #Realm #Relevance (law) #Social psychology #Spatial Cognition and Navigation #Vocational education
paper · doi:10.1177/0963721410391442
published in Current Directions in Psychological Science 19(6), 346-351 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2010/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/08
The assertion that ability differences no longer matter beyond a certain threshold is inaccurate. Among young adolescents in the top 1% of quantitative reasoning ability, individual differences in general cognitive ability level and in specific cognitive ability pattern (that is, the relationships among an individual’s math, verbal, and spatial abilities) lead to differences in educational, occupational, and creative outcomes decades later. Whereas ability level predicts the level of achievement, ability pattern predicts the realm of achievement. Adding information on vocational interests refines prediction of educational and career choices. Finally, lifestyle preferences relevant to career choice, performance, and persistence often change between ages 25 and 35. This change results in sex differences in preferences, which likely have relevance for understanding the underrepresentation of women in careers that demand more than full-time (40 hours per week) commitment.