Assessing the Scholarly Reach of Terman’s Work

Abstract

Lewis M. Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius stands as one of the landmark studies of the 20th century in the educational and psychological sciences. This longitudinal study of individuals in the top 1% of general cognitive ability has sparked interest and debate among scholars for nearly 100 years. In this study, we examine how Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius has influenced academia through a bibliometric citation analysis. We gathered all scholarly works that cited one of the volumes of Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius and appeared in academic journals and mapped out the growth of scholarly citations within differing academic fields. We found that the influence of Terman’s studies extends beyond the field of education and psychology into business, medicine, and the sciences.

Similarities and Differences Between Intellectually Gifted and Average-Ability Students in School Performance, Motivation, and Subjective Well-Being

“…The interest in Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius has not diminished over time (Hodges et al., 2020, this issue). This might be because his study was groundbreaking at the time of its publication.…”

Lewis Terman in Context: An Analysis of Citations of Genetic Studies of Genius Inside and Outside the Field of Gifted Education

“…The purpose of this study is to assess how Lewis Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius is cited in the literature. Specifically, the purpose of this study is to extend and provide context to the findings of Hodges et al (2021). In their examination of the citation rate of Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius , the authors found differential citation rates between gifted and nongifted scholarly works.…”

“…Scholars understand the extent to which his works have been cited (Hodges et al, 2021) but do not yet understand how his works have been cited. Contemporary scholars have criticized Terman’s legacy for his overemphasis on IQ, which has become equated with intelligence and giftedness for many educators (Borland, 2009; Trotman Scott et al, 2020; Warne, 2019).…”

“…In the field of gifted education, Lewis Terman’s series of studies entitled Genetic Studies of Genius is one of those seminal works. Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius and the successive work done on this study from his laboratory at Stanford University have garnered citations in 1,499 unique scholarly works across 555 academic English-language journals (Hodges et al, 2021). Terman is considered by scholars as an early major contributor to research in gifted education and is even referred to as the “Father of Gifted Education” for his contributions (Winkler & Jolly, 2014).…”

“…Scholars outside gifted education also cite Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius . The majority of those citations are within the fields of psychology and education, but scholars in diverse fields such as medicine, engineering, and biology have cited his work as well (Hodges et al, 2021). Anyone, scholar or otherwise, conducting a citation search of Terman’s Genetic Studies of Genius can clearly surmise that the works are highly cited.…”