Academic positions

Consulting and practice

  • Feb 2025 – present

    Lecturer, Certificate Study Program in Gifted Education and Potential Development

    University of Tübingen · Tübingen, Germany

  • Nov 2023 – Feb 2024

    Scientific Advisor

    g.a.s.t. e.V. (Gesellschaft für akademische Studienvorbereitung und Testentwicklung)

    Developing reasoning items for international college admission tests (digital TestAS)

  • Sep 2022 – present

    Diagnostician

    Pedagogical Diagnostics Center

  • Nov 2022 – Dec 2022

    Scientific Advisor

    Bertelsmann Stiftung

    Study on “Self-assessment of typical cognitive behavior” within the program “Sustainable Social Economy”

Education

  • Aug 2019 – Jul 2023

    Dr. rer. nat., Psychology (summa cum laude)

    Ulm University · Ulm, Germany

    Thesis: Individual Differences in Knowledge: Examining Test Modes and Putting the Nomological Net Into Perspective. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Oliver Wilhelm. External reviewers: Prof. Dr. Matthias Ziegler, Prof. Dr. Aljoscha Neubauer.

  • Oct 2020 – ongoing

    Baden-Württemberg Certificate for Higher Education Didactics (HDZ)

    176 of 200 academic units completed as of June 2026

  • Oct 2018 – Aug 2019

    M.Sc., Psychology (very good, ECTS A)

    Ulm University · Ulm, Germany

    Thesis: We Hold This Truth to Be Evident: Reasoning Tasks Measure Reasoning Ability. Supervisors: Prof. Oliver Wilhelm and Prof. Ulrich Schroeders.

  • Oct 2014 – Jul 2018

    B.Sc., Psychology (minor: Philosophy, good, ECTS B)

    Ulm University · Ulm, Germany

    Thesis: Predictive Validity of Elementary Cognitive Tasks. Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Oliver Wilhelm and Prof. Dr. Florian Schmitz.

Awards

  • Sep 2025

    Dissertationspreis in der Psychologischen Diagnostik

    Fachgruppe Differentielle Psychologie und Psychologische Diagnostik (DPPD), German Psychological Society (DGPs)

  • Apr 2025

    PhD Thesis Award

    European Association of Psychological Assessment (EAPA)

  • Jan 2024

    Best PhD Thesis Award 2023

    Journal of Intelligence

    Award committee chair: Prof. Andrew Conway.

Grants and funding

  • Jul 2026

    Within-Person Variability in Creative Activities Among Primary School Children: An Intensive Longitudinal Study

    DFG Research Grant

    Role: Principal Investigator. €326,442 (granted).

  • Jul 2026

    Mental Health and Giftedness

    LEAD Graduate School and Research Network, Intramural Funding

    Role: Co-PI. Co-applicants: Jessika Golle, Katharina Allgaier. €9,886 (granted).

  • May 2026

    Wissenschaftliche Begleitung zum ULI-Konzept (Unser Lernen Inspiriert)

    Diözese Augsburg

    Role: Co-PI. Co-applicants: Tim Fütterer, Luise von Keyserlingk, Benjamin Nagengast, Ulrich Trautwein, Nina Udvardi-Lakos. €276,696 (granted).

  • Jul 2025

    StarS: Stark in die Grundschule starten: Selbstregulation und motivational-emotionale Orientierung

    Institut zur Qualitätsentwicklung im Bildungswesen (IQB)

    Role: Co-PI. Co-applicants: Ulrich Trautwein, Tim Fütterer, Nina Udvardi-Lakos, Janina Eberhart, Emely Hoch. €105,000 (granted).

  • Aug 2024

    PINGUIN: Potenzialidentifikation IN der GrUndschule

    Hector Foundation II

    Role: Project Lead and Co-PI. Co-applicants: Ulrich Trautwein, Jessika Golle, Marcus Hasselhorn, Patrick Lösche, Oliver Wilhelm, Ulrich Schroeders, Darius Endlich, Johanna Hartung. €783,530 (granted), including €195,882.50 for a doctoral position under my supervision.

  • May 2022

    Travel Grant, Mobility Program (ProTrainU)

    Graduate and Professional Training Center Ulm, Ulm University

    For attending the APS Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, USA. €2,000.

  • Apr 2021

    Travel Grant, Summer School 2021: Working Memory

    Doctoral Program Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Bern

    CHF 1,000 (cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

  • Mar 2018

    PROMOS Scholarship

    DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst)

    €550.

Research stays

Invited talks

  • Sep 2025

    Pädagogisch-Psychologische Diagnostik – Grundlagen, Nutzen und Herausforderungen im Kontext der Begabtenförderung

    Benjamin Goecke

    Jahrestagung Förderung besonderer Begabungen, Kultusministerium Niedersachsen · Hanover, Germany

    Workshop talk.

  • Aug 2025

    Keeping Up With The Joneses: What Creativity Assessment Can Learn From, and Teach To, Other Domains

    Benjamin Goecke, Denis Dumas

    The Future of Creativity Assessment Workshop · Hanover, Germany

    Keynote talk.

  • May 2025

    Diagnostik und Entwicklung von Begabung im Kindesalter: Perspektiven auf Identifikation, Passung und Förderung

    Benjamin Goecke

    Institute Colloquium, IQB Berlin (Institut für Qualitätsentwicklung im Bildungswesen) · Berlin, Germany

  • May 2025

    Starke Kinder im Blick: Begabungen und Hochbegabungen im Übergang Kita-Grundschule erkennen und fördern

    Benjamin Goecke

    Staatliches Schulamt Backnang · Backnang, Germany

  • Oct 2023

    Assessment of Cognitive Potential in Children: Learning From Research of Individual Differences in Cognitive Abilities

    Benjamin Goecke

    LEAD Research Network, Associational Research Talk · Herrenberg, Germany

  • Oct 2023

    Measuring Cognitive Ability From Young Age: Development and Validation of a New Working Memory Capacity Test Battery

    Benjamin Goecke

    LEAD Research Network · Herrenberg, Germany

  • Jan 2023

    Driving Factors of Individual Differences in Broad Retrieval Abilities

    Benjamin Goecke

    Colloquium of the Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Self-Regulation Laboratory, Heidelberg University · Heidelberg, Germany

    Organized by Prof. Dr. Jan Rummel.

  • Oct 2022

    Driving Factors of Individual Differences in Broad Retrieval Abilities

    Benjamin Goecke

    Colloquium of the Hungry Mind Laboratory, University of York · York, England

    Organized by Prof. Dr. Sophie von Stumm.

  • Sep 2022

    Driving Factors of Individual Differences in Broad Retrieval Abilities

    Benjamin Goecke

    Colloquium of the Cognitive Psychology Faculty, Pennsylvania State University · State College, PA, USA

    Organized by Prof. Roger Beaty.

  • Mar 2022

    Methodische und inhaltliche Abwägungen in der Wissensermittlung

    Benjamin Goecke

    20. Workshop für Doktorandinnen und Doktoranden der DPPD · Jena, Germany

    Organized by Dr. André Kretzschmar, Dr. Isabel Thielmann and Prof. Dr. Franz Neyer.

  • Dec 2019

    Exkurs Hochschulzulassung und Eignungsdiagnostik

    Benjamin Goecke

    Vorlesung Persönlichkeitspsychologie, Aalen University · Aalen, Germany

  • Nov 2019

    Eignungsdiagnostik – Validität und Akzeptanz

    Benjamin Goecke, Oliver Wilhelm

    2. Symposium zu Eignungs- und Auswahlverfahren in den natur- und ingenieurwissenschaftlichen Studiengängen, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology · Karlsruhe, Germany

Media and interviews

Conference presentations

  • Jun 2026

    Foundations of English as a Foreign Language Literacy: Cognitive and Linguistic Contributions to English Reading and Spelling in Young German Learners

    Helena Mlakar, Benjamin Goecke

    EuroSLA 2026 (European Second Language Association) · Lisbon, Portugal

  • Mar 2026

    STEM Talent Selection: Effects of Including Creative Thinking

    Nadine Wytopil, Ann-Kathrin Jaggy, Benjamin Goecke, David John, Benjamin Nagengast, Ulrich Trautwein

    GEBF 2026 (Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung) · Munich, Germany

  • Mar 2026

    Who Makes the Cut? (Relative) Age Effects in Identifying Gifted Students

    Luca Heim, Benjamin Goecke, Patrick Lösche, Marcus Hasselhorn, Benjamin Nagengast, Jessika Golle, Ulrich Trautwein

    GEBF 2026 (Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung) · Munich, Germany

  • Mar 2026

    Who Makes the Cut? (Relative) Age Effects in Identifying Gifted Students

    Luca Heim, Benjamin Goecke, Patrick Lösche, Marcus Hasselhorn, Benjamin Nagengast, Jessika Golle, Ulrich Trautwein

    DACH Nachwuchsakademie 2026 · Leipzig, Germany

  • Sep 2025

    Assessing Convergent Thinking: A Systematic Literature Review

    Olivia Hauser, Benjamin Goecke, Ann-Kathrin Jaggy, Selina Weiss

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Kassel, Germany

  • Sep 2025

    Boys and Things – Girls and People? How Gendered Interest Patterns Emerge in Primary School

    Benjamin Goecke, Ingo Zettler, Jessika Golle, Ulrich Schroeders

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Kassel, Germany

  • Sep 2025

    Developing and Evaluating a Novel Working Memory Capacity Battery for Young Children

    Oliver Wilhelm, Franziska Busse, Benjamin Goecke, Johanna Hartung, Julius Thelen

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Kassel, Germany

  • Sep 2025

    Small Samples, Big Insights: Leveraging Bayesian SEM for Divergent Thinking

    Leila S. Elmdust, Benjamin Goecke, Selina Weiss

    FGME (Psychological Research Methods) · Berlin, Germany

  • Sep 2025

    Small Samples, Big Insights: Leveraging Bayesian SEM for Divergent Thinking

    Leila S. Elmdust, Benjamin Goecke, Selina Weiss

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Kassel, Germany

  • Sep 2025

    Smarter Prompts, Smarter Users? Assessing AI Literacy

    Manuel Rindle, Benjamin Goecke, Oliver Wilhelm, Selina Weiss

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Kassel, Germany

  • Aug 2025

    Balancing Cognitive Abilities for Fairer Selection in Gifted Programs: Reducing Socio-Demographic Bias

    Benjamin Goecke, Jessika Golle, Patrick Lösche, Hannah Beißer, Marcus Hasselhorn, Johanna Hartung, Ulrich Schroeders, Oliver Wilhelm, Ulrich Trautwein

    EARLI 2025 (European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction) · Graz, Austria

  • Jul 2025

    Acts and Facts of Life as a Complement to the Default Approach in Personality Assessment

    Oliver Wilhelm, Eva Altgassen, Benjamin Goecke

    ISSID (International Society for the Study of Individual Differences) · Florence, Italy

    Symposium organized by Prof. Oliver John.

  • Jan 2025

    Integrating the Effects of an Extracurricular STEM Enrichment Program for Primary School Children

    Benjamin Goecke, Jessika Golle, Benjamin Nagengast, Ulrich Trautwein

    GEBF 2025 (Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung) · Mannheim, Germany

  • Sep 2024

    Measuring Creative Activities in Gifted Children and Adolescents – A Validation Study of a Newly Developed Self-Report Questionnaire

    Benjamin Goecke, Selina Weiss, Ann-Kathrin Jaggy

    DGPs (German Psychological Society) · Vienna, Austria

  • May 2024

    Entwicklung eines Tablet-basierten Testinstruments zur Erfassung der Lernausgangslage im Grundschulalter

    Benjamin Goecke, Darius Endlich, Jessika Golle, Johanna Hartung, Marcus Hasselhorn, Patrick Lösche, Stefan Schipolowski, Ulrich Schroeders, Ulrich Trautwein, Oliver Wilhelm

    LERN-Jahrestagung 2024 (Forschungsnetzwerk Bildungspotenziale) · Tübingen, Germany

  • Apr 2024

    Assessing Gifted Students' Creative Activities – A Validation Study of a Newly Developed Self-Report Questionnaire for Kids

    Ann-Kathrin Jaggy, Benjamin Goecke, Selina Weiss

    SfNC 2024 (Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity) · Toronto, Canada

  • Apr 2024

    How Much Retrieval Ability Is in Originality?

    Selina Weiss, Benjamin Goecke, Oliver Wilhelm

    SfNC 2024 (Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity) · Toronto, Canada

  • Apr 2024

    Making Connections: Creativity Supports Learning Through Associative Thinking

    Roger Beaty, Simone Luchini, James C. Kaufman, Benjamin Goecke, Oliver Wilhelm, Yoed N. Kenett, Daniel Lei, Janet G. van Hell

    SfNC 2024 (Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity) · Toronto, Canada

  • Mar 2024

    Measuring Cognitive Ability From Young Age: Presenting a New Test Battery for Working Memory Capacity

    Benjamin Goecke, Johanna Hartung, Lena Zimny, Jessika Golle, Patrick Lösche, Oliver Wilhelm

    GEBF 2024 (Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung) · Potsdam, Germany

  • Sep 2023

    Driving Factors of Individual Differences in Broad Retrieval Abilities

    Benjamin Goecke, Selina Weiss, Oliver Wilhelm

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Salzburg, Austria

    Symposium organized by Benjamin Goecke and Selina Weiss.

  • Sep 2023

    Is Creative Fluency and Originality More Than Retrieval Fluency?

    Selina Weiss, Benjamin Goecke, Oliver Wilhelm

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Salzburg, Austria

    Symposium organized by Benjamin Goecke and Selina Weiss.

  • Sep 2023

    Testing Cognitive Ability From Childhood to Old Age: Development and Validation of a New Working Memory Capacity Test Battery

    Lena Zimny, Benjamin Goecke, Johanna Hartung, Oliver Wilhelm

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Salzburg, Austria

  • Jun 2023

    Development and Validation of a New Working Memory Capacity Test Battery

    Benjamin Goecke, Lena Zimny, Johanna Hartung, Oliver Wilhelm

    Working Memory Symposium

  • Sep 2022

    Complementary Indicators of Overclaiming and Their Validity

    Catherine Schittenhelm, Marlena Staab, Benjamin Goecke, Oliver Wilhelm

    DGPs (German Psychological Society) · Hildesheim, Germany

  • Sep 2022

    Fake It Until You Are Caught: Can Supernormality Scales or Social Desirability Scales Detect Faking?

    Julius Thelen, Benjamin Goecke, Eva Altgassen, Mattis Geiger, Oliver Wilhelm

    DGPs (German Psychological Society) · Hildesheim, Germany

  • Sep 2022

    Response Formats Do Not Alter What Fact Knowledge Tests Measure

    Benjamin Goecke, Catherine Schittenhelm, Marlena Staab, Oliver Wilhelm

    DGPs (German Psychological Society) · Hildesheim, Germany

    Symposium organized by Benjamin Goecke and Luc Watrin.

  • Jul 2022

    Response Formats Do Not Alter What Fact Knowledge Tests Measure

    Benjamin Goecke, Catherine Schittenhelm, Marlena Staab, Oliver Wilhelm

    ECP (European Conference of Personality) · Madrid, Spain

  • May 2022

    Response Formats Do Not Alter What Fact Knowledge Tests Measure

    Benjamin Goecke, Catherine Schittenhelm, Marlena Staab, Oliver Wilhelm

    APS (Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention) · Chicago, IL, USA

    Symposium organized by Selina Weiss.

  • Sep 2021

    A Primer on Developing Figural Sequences

    Benjamin Goecke, Julius Thelen, Luc Watrin, Oliver Wilhelm

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Ulm, Germany

    Symposium organized by Benjamin Goecke and Oliver Wilhelm.

  • Sep 2021

    The Development of Latin Square Tasks: More Science Than Art?

    Johanna Hartung, Benjamin Goecke, Ulrich Schroeders, Florian Schmitz, Oliver Wilhelm

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Ulm, Germany

    Symposium organized by Benjamin Goecke and Oliver Wilhelm.

  • Jun 2020

    Disentangling Speed from Binding in Working Memory

    Benjamin Goecke, Florian Schmitz, Oliver Wilhelm

    Virtual Working Memory Symposium

    Organized by Edward Ester (Florida Atlantic University) and Jarrod Lewis-Peacock (University of Texas at Austin).

  • Mar 2020

    Is Long-Term Memory Used in a Visuo-Spatial Change-Detection Paradigm?

    Benjamin Goecke, Oliver Wilhelm, Klaus Oberauer

    TeaP (Conference of Experimental Psychologists) · Jena, Germany

    Poster session.

  • Sep 2019

    Creativity, Domain-Specific Knowledge, and Overclaiming: What We Can Think of, What We Know, and What We Think We Know

    Benjamin Goecke, Diana Steger, Selina Weiss, Ulrich Schroeders, Oliver Wilhelm

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Dresden, Germany

    Paper session.

  • Sep 2019

    How Should We Measure Reasoning in College Admission?

    Oliver Wilhelm, Benjamin Goecke, Johanna Hartung, Mattis Geiger, Ulrich Schroeders

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Dresden, Germany

    Symposium organized by Dr. Nicolas Becker and Prof. Dr. Birgit Spinath.

  • Jul 2019

    Are Some Reasoning Tasks More Equal Than Others?

    Benjamin Goecke, Johanna Hartung, Mattis Geiger, Ulrich Schroeders, Oliver Wilhelm

    ISSID (International Society for the Study of Individual Differences) · Florence, Italy

    Symposium organized by Dr. Florian Schmitz.

  • Jul 2019

    Creativity, Domain-Specific Knowledge, and Overclaiming: What We Can Think of, What We Know, and What We Think We Know

    Benjamin Goecke, Diana Steger, Selina Weiss, Ulrich Schroeders, Oliver Wilhelm

    ISSID (International Society for the Study of Individual Differences) · Florence, Italy

    Symposium organized by Diana Steger and Benjamin Goecke.

  • May 2019

    How to Develop a Fair College Admission Test for Foreign University Students in Germany – A Tutorial

    Benjamin Goecke, Oliver Wilhelm

    WCUR (World Congress on Undergraduate Research) · Oldenburg, Germany

  • Sep 2018

    Elementare kognitive Aufgaben als ein Prädiktor für das allgemeine kognitive Funktionsniveau

    Benjamin Goecke, Florian Schmitz, Oliver Wilhelm

    DGPs (German Psychological Society) · Frankfurt, Germany

    Symposium organized by Dr. Florian Schmitz.

  • Jul 2018

    Elementary Cognitive Tasks as a Predictor of General Cognitive Ability

    Benjamin Goecke, Florian Schmitz, Oliver Wilhelm

    ECP (European Conference of Personality) · Zadar, Croatia

    Symposium organized by Dr. Florian Schmitz.

  • Sep 2017

    Measuring Facial Asymmetry Using Geometric Morphometrics

    Selina Weiss, Sally G. Olderbak, C. Martin Grewe, Benjamin Goecke, Laura Kaltwasser, Andrea Hildebrandt

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Munich, Germany

    Paper session.

  • Sep 2017

    Warum sind elementare kognitive Aufgaben prädiktiv?

    Benjamin Goecke, Florian Schmitz, Oliver Wilhelm

    DPPD (Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment) · Munich, Germany

    Poster session.

Teaching

  • Winter 2025/26

    Seminar on Writing Psychological Reports

    University of Tübingen

  • Winter 2025/26

    Seminar on Psychological Assessment, Certificate Study Program in Gifted Education and Potential Development

    University of Tübingen

  • Winter 2024/25

    Lecture on Educational and Psychological Assessment

    University of Tübingen

  • Winter 2024/25

    Seminar on Writing Psychological Reports

    University of Tübingen

  • Winter 2024/25

    Seminar on Psychological Assessment, Certificate Study Program in Gifted Education and Potential Development

    University of Tübingen

  • Summer 2024

    Seminar on Quantitative Data Analysis

    University of Tübingen

  • Winter 2023/24

    Seminar on Writing Psychological Reports

    University of Tübingen

  • Winter 2022/23

    Lecture on Personality Psychology

    Aalen University

    Including examination permission.

  • Summer 2022

    Practical Seminar in Psychological Assessment: Preparing and Analyzing Intelligence Data with Confirmatory Factor Analysis

    Ulm University

  • Summer 2022

    Practical Seminar in Psychological Assessment: Conversation Management and Behavioral Observation

    Ulm University

  • Winter 2021/22

    Lecture on Personality Psychology

    Aalen University

    Including examination permission.

  • Winter 2021/22

    Practical Seminar in Psychological Assessment: Post-Qualification in Conversation Management and Behavioral Observation

    Ulm University

  • Summer 2021

    Practical Seminar in Psychological Assessment: Preparing and Analyzing Intelligence Data

    Ulm University

  • Summer 2020

    Practical Seminar in Psychological Assessment: Reliability

    Ulm University

  • Winter 2019/20

    Experimental Seminar: Competing Operationalisations of Emotional Working Memory

    Ulm University

  • Summer 2017

    Tutor for Test Theory and Design of Experiments

    Department of Psychological Methods, Ulm University

    Supervisor: Dr. Tatjana Stadnitski.

  • Summer 2016

    Tutor for Test Theory and Design of Experiments

    Department of Psychological Methods, Ulm University

    Supervisor: Dr. Tatjana Stadnitski.

Supervision

  • Doctoral

    1 doctoral thesis supervised

    University of Tübingen

    Ongoing. As a member of the LEAD Graduate School and Research Network I also act as daily supervisor for further doctoral researchers.

  • Master's

    7 Master's theses supervised

    University of Tübingen and Ulm University

    Topics include coping strategies of primary-school leadership, interests and socio-demographic disparities in primary school children, giftedness and perfectionism, diagnostics of learning prerequisites, semantic networks of retrieval fluency, and meta-analysis of fluid intelligence and working memory capacity. Two ongoing.

  • Bachelor's

    15 Bachelor's theses supervised

    University of Tübingen and Ulm University

    Topics include working memory capacity, crystallized intelligence and socio-economic status in childhood, mental speed and school grades, creative activities in primary school children, retrieval ability, and the measurement of overclaiming. One ongoing.

  • Certificate

    4 theses in the Certificate Study Program in Gifted Education and Potential Development

    University of Tübingen

    Topics include school concepts for gifted education, nomination procedures for gifted children, and enrichment provision.

Editorial responsibilities

  • 2025 – ongoing

    Consulting Editor

    European Journal of Personality

  • 2025

    Guest Editor, Special Issue: Unpacking the PISA 2022 Creative Thinking Assessment

    Thinking Skills and Creativity

    With Selina Weiss and Baptiste Barbot.

  • Ad-hoc reviewing

    Reviewer for 15 journals and conferences

    Intelligence · Journal of Memory and Language · Educational Psychology Review · Creativity Research Journal · Journal of Creative Behavior · Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts · Thinking Skills and Creativity · Applied Psychology: An International Review · Journal of Individual Differences · Diagnostica · Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology · Zeitschrift für empirische Hochschulforschung · Frontiers in Neuroergonomics · DGPs · GEBF.

Academic service

  • 2025 – ongoing

    Advisory Board Member

    Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology

  • 2023 – ongoing

    Internship Coordinator

    Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology

  • 2020 – 2023

    Board of Examiners

    Institute of Psychology, Ulm University

Memberships

Contact

benjamin.goecke@uni-tuebingen.de