Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology

Dr. Benjamin Goecke

Benjamin Goecke is a Junior Research Group Leader (“Assessment and Development of Talent in Childhood”) at the Hector Institute for Empirical Educational Research at the University of Tübingen and part of the scientific evaluation team of the Hector Children’s Academies. In his work he investigates how children’s cognitive abilities and educational potentials can be measured reliably, identified fairly, and supported effectively. 

Research Interests

  • Structure and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities (e.g. working memory, mental speed, knowledge, reasoning, retrieval, creativity),
  • Psychometrics and research methods (e.g., structural equation modeling, validity),
  • Assessment-based decisions in educational contexts: identification, selection, and support
  • Test construction and alternative assessment methods

 

 

Address

University of Tübingen
Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology
Walter-Simon-Straße 12
72072 Tübingen
Room 6.2

Contact

07071/29-73915

benjamin.goeckespam prevention@uni-tuebingen.de

 

 

Follow me:

ResearchGate
Google Scholar
LinkedIn
OSF

 

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Stein, X. V., Tsarava, K., & Goecke, B. (2026). Development and Validation of a Preformal Assessment for Mathematical Proof Competency. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 61, 102139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2026.102139
  • Dumas, D., Goecke, B., Kagan, S., & Weiss, S. (2026). Zooming Out On Education: Making Valid Psychological Inferences From Large-Scale Assessment Data. Educational Psychology Review, 38(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-025-10110-7
  • Elmdust, L. S.*, Weiss, S.*, & Goecke, B. (2025). Small Samples, Big Insights: Leveraging Bayesian SEM for Divergent Thinking. Journal of Intelligence, 13(11), 150. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence13110150. (* = these authors contributed equally)
  • Goecke, B., Diedrich, J., Patzl, S., Forthmann, B., Benedek, M., & Weiss, S. (in press). Being Female and Being Well-Situated Implies Higher Performance on Creative Thinking Tests: Evidence Across 62 Countries from PISA 2022. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 59, 101963.
  • Stark, L., Goecke, B., Jaggy, A.-K., Krummenauer, J., Kuntze, S., Golle, J., & Nagengast, B. (2025).Assessing Decision Thresholds in Primary School Students Using Signal Detection Theory: Validating an Adapted Version of the Beads Task. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
  • Luchini, S. A., Kaufman, J. C., Goecke, B., Wilhelm, O., Kenett, Y. N., Lei, D., Benedek, M., van Hell, J. G., Beaty, R. E. (2025). Making Connections: Creativity Supports Learning Through Associative Thinking. npj Science of Learning, 10(1).
  • Saretzki, J., Knopf, T., Forthmann, B., Goecke, B., Jaggy, A.-K., Benedek, M., & Weiss, S. (in press). Scoring German Alternate Uses Items Applying Large-Language Models. Journal of Intelligence, 13(6), 64. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence13060064
  • Goecke, B.*, Weiss, S.*, & Baptiste, B. (2025). Content Validity of Creativity Self-Report Questionnaires Within the PISA 2022 Framework. Journal of Creative Behavior, 59(e70026). https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.70026 (* = these authors contributed equally)
  • Weiss, S., Jaggy, A.-K., Goecke, B. (2025). Introducing the inventory of creative activities for young adolescents: An adaption and validation study. Thinking Skills and Creativity, Volume 57, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101836
  • Luchini, S., Moosa, M., Patterson, J. D., Johnson, D., Baas, M., Barbot, B., Bashmakova, I., Benedek, M., Chen, Q., Corazza, G., Forthmann, B., Goecke, B., Ibrahim, S., Karwowski, M., Kenett, Y. N., Lubart, T., Miroshnik, K. G., Obialo, F.-K., Ovando-Tellez, M., Primi, R., Puente, R., Stevenson, C., Volle, E., van Hell, J. G., Yin, W., & Beaty, R. (2025). Automated Assessment of Creativity in Multilingual Narratives. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000725
  • Forthmann, B., Weiss, S., & Goecke, B. (2025). A Cognitive Interpretation is not at Odds with Equal Odds: A Latent Variable. Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/02762366241311561
  • Goecke, B., Zimny, L., Hartung, J., Lösche, P., Golle, J., & Wilhem, O. (2024). Measuring Cognitive Ability From Young Age: Development and Validation of a New Test Battery for Working Memory Capacity. Psychological Test Adaption and Development, 5, 316-336.
  • Goecke, B., DiStefano, P., Aschauer, W., Haim, K., Beaty, R. & Forthmann, R. (2024). Automated Scoring of Scientific Creativity in German. The Journal of Creative Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.658
  • Weiss, S., Goecke, B., & Wilhem, O. (2024). How Much Retrieval Is in Originality?. The Journal of Creative Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.659
  • Goecke, B., Weiss, S., & Wilhelm, O. (2025). Driving factors of individual differences in broad retrieval ability: Gr is more than the sum of its parts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 51(2), 301–319. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0001336
  • Forthmann, B., Goecke, B., & Beaty, R. (2023). Planning Missing Data Designs for Human Ratings in Creativity Research: A Practical Guide. Creativity Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2023.2250976
  • Goecke, B., Staab, M., Schittenhelm, C., & Wilhelm, O. (2022). Stop Worrying About Multiple-Choice: Fact Knowledge Does Not Change with Response Formats. Journal of Intelligence, 10, 102. https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence10040102
  • Goecke, B., Schroeders, U., Zettler, I., Schipolowski, S., Golle, J., & Wilhelm, O. (2022). The Nomological Net of Knowledge, Self-Reported Knowledge and Overclaiming in Children. Journal of Personality Assessment, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223891.2022.2144332
  • Hartung, J., Goecke, B., Schroeders, U., Schmitz, F., S & Wilhelm, O. (2022). Latin square tasks: A multi-study evaluation. Intelligence, 94, 101683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2022.10168
  • Goecke, B. & Oberauer, K. (2021). Is Long-Term Memory Used in a Visuo-Spatial Change-Detection Paradigm?. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review. 10.3758/s13423-021-01951-8
  • Goecke, B., Schmitz, F., & Wilhelm, O. (2021). Binding Costs in Processing Efficiency as Determinants of Cognitive Ability. Journal of Intelligence, 9(2). 10.3390/jintelligence9020018
  • Weiss, S., Grewe, C. M., Olderbak, S. G., Goecke, B., Kaltwasser, L., & Hildebrandt, A. (2020). Symmetric or not? A Holistic Approach to the Measurement of Fluctuating Asymmetry from Facial Photographs. Personality and Individual Differences, 166, 110137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.11013
  • Goecke, B., Steger, D., Weiss, S., Schroeders, U., & Wilhelm, O. (2020). Testing Competing Claims About Overclaiming. Intelligence, 81, 101470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2020.101470

 

Curriculum Vitae

Since 02/2026
Junior Research Group Leader „Assessment and Development of Talent in Childhood“

Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen

09/2023–01/2026
Postdoctoral Researcher

Hector Research Institute of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Tübingen

07/2023
Doctorate (summa cum laude)

Topic: Individual Differences in Knowledge: Examining Test Modes and Putting the Nomological Net Into Perspective (Advisor: Prof. Dr. Oliver Wilhelm)

Awards: 
1) PhD Thesis Award of the Division Differential, Personality Psychology and Psychological Diagnostics of the German Psychological Society
2) Best PhD Thesis Award of the Journal of Intelligence
3) European Association of Psychological Assessment PhD Thesis Award 

09/2022
Resarch Stay with Prof. Roger Beaty

Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, USA

11/2022 – 02/2023
Lecturer: Personality Psychology

Aalen University

11/2021 – 02/2022
Lecturer: Personality Psychology

Aalen University

08/2019-08/2023
Research Scientist (Doctoral Candidate)

Department of Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment, Ulm University

10/2018-8/2019
Master Studies Psychology (M.Sc.)

Ulm University

03/2018-05/2018
Research Internship

Psychological Institute, Cognitive Psychology Unit, University of Zurich 

10/2016-07/2019
Student Assistant

Department of Individual Differences and Psychological Assessment, Ulm University

04/2016-07/2016 & 04/2017-07/2017
Tutor for Test Theory and Design of Experiments

Department of Psychological Methods, Ulm University

10/2014-08/2018
Bachelor Studies Psychology (B.Sc.)

Ulm University