Maud Besancon
Professor of Psychology, Université Rennes 2
Director of the Master Speciality « Psychology of Education » (APEIO = Approches Psychologiques de l’éducation : de l’Inclusion à l’Orientation // Psychological Approaches to Education: From Inclusion to Guidance) ;
Director of the Centre de Formation des Psychologues de l’Education nationale
Research Overview
My research examines diverse aspects of creativity with a focus on individual differences in education. My topics include : creative environment (for example, influence of type of pedagogy), creativity assessment (in children and adolescents with EPoC (Evaluation of Potential Creativity) and the development of creativity (children & teacher).
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Besançon, M., Dutertre*, B. & Lubart, T. (accepted August 2026). Embodied Pedagogies, Physical Activity and Creativity in School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review. Educational Sciences.
Camarda, A., Cassotti, M., Besançon, M. et Lubart, T. (accepted March 2026). Expanding Creativity Evaluation: Mapping Cognitive Flexibility and Fixation in PISA Assessments. The Journal of Creative Behavior.
Juriševič, M., Žerak, U., Storme, M., Besançon, M. & Lubart, T. (accepted January 2026). Measurement Invariance of the Evaluation of Creative Potential (EPoC) across Genders, Ages, and Countries. L’Année Psychologique/ Topics in Cognitive Psychology.
Juriševič, M., Žerak, U., Besancon, M., & Lubart, T. (2026). Detecting High Creative Potential in School-Age Children With the EPoC Test: A Comparative Study From Two Educational Contexts. Gifted Education International, 42(1), 102-119. https://doi.org/10.1177/02614294251401718
Massy, G., Didier, J., & Besançon, M., (2026). Assessing creativity in early childhood: How future teachers balance conformity and originality. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 59, 102023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2025.102023
Massy, G., Besançon, M. & Didier, J. (2025). From creativity to the creative student, evolutionary analysis of representations among future teachers. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 57, 101860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101860
Lubart, T., Kharkhurin, A., Corrazza G. E., Besançon, M., Yagolkovskiy, S. & Sak, U. (2022). Creative Potential in Science: Conceptual and Measurement Issues. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.750224
Gonthier, C. & Besançon M. (2022). It is not always better to have more ideas: serial order and the trade-off between fluency and elaboration in divergent thinking tasks. Journal of Creativity Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000485
Peter*, L., Michinov, E., Besançon, M., Michinov, E., Juhel, J., Brown, G., Jamet, E., Cherbonnier, A. et consortium ProFan (2021). Revisiting the Effects of Gender Diversity in Small Groups on Divergent Thinking: A Large-Scale Study Using Synchronous Electronic Brainstorming. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.723235
Goumi, A. & Besançon, M. (2019). 2 B kreativ’ or not to be creative: Textisms and texters’ creativity. Revue Européenne de Psychologie Appliquée/European Review of Applied Psychology, 69(4), ArtID: 100470. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erap.2019.100470
Lubart, T., Besançon, M. & Barbot, B. (2019). La créativité, ressource potentielle de l’enfant et l’adolescent, à évaluer, révéler et développer. Neuropsychiatrie de l’enfance et de l’adolescence, 67(3), 121-129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurenf.2019.02.004
Celume, M-P., Besançon, M. & Zenasni, F. (2019). Fostering Children and Adolescents’ Creative Thinking in Education. Theoretical Model of Drama Pedagogy Training. Frontiers in Psychology, section Cognition, 9. ArtID: 2611doi:3389/fpsyg.2018.02611
Ahmadi, N. & Besançon, M. (2017). Creativity as a Stepping Stone towards Developing Other Competencies in Classrooms. Education Research International, 2017, 1-9. Article ID 1357456. doi:10.1155/2017/1357456.
Barbot, B., Besançon, M. & Lubart, T. (2016). The generality-specificity of creativity: Exploring the structure of creative potential with EPoC. Learning and Individual Differences, 52, 178-187. http://dx.doi.org.faraway.u-paris10.fr/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.06.005
Berlin, N., Tavani, J-L., & Besançon, M. (2016). An exploratory study of creativity, personality and schooling achievement. Education Economics, 24(5), 536-556. 10.1080/09645292.2015.1117580
Barbot, B., Besançon, M. & Lubart, T. (2016). The generality-spécificity of creativity: Exploring the structure of creative potential with EPoC. Learning and Individual Differences, 52, 178-187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.06.005
Barbot, B., Lubart, T. & Besançon, M. (2016). Peaks, Slumps and Bumps: Individual Differences in the Development of Creativity in Children and Adolescents. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 151, 33-45. doi: 10.1002/cad.20152
Besançon, M., Fenouillet, F. & Shankland, R. (2015). Influence of school environment on adolescents’ creative potential, motivation and well-being. Learning and Individual Differences, 43, 178-184. doi: 10.1016/j.lindif.2015.08.029
Barbot, B., Besançon, M., & Lubart, T. (2015). Creative Potential in Educational Settings: its Nature, Measure, and Nurture. Education 3-13, 43(4), 371-381. doi:10.1080/03004279.2015.1020643
Besançon, M. (2013). Creativity, giftedness and education. Gifted and Talented International Journal, 28(1&2), 149-161.
Besançon, M., Lubart, T., & Barbot, B. (2013). Creative giftedness and educational opportunities. Educational & Child Psychology, 30(2), 79-88.
Besançon, M. & Lubart, T. (2012). La créativité chez les enfants à haut potentiel. ANAE, 199, 425-430.
Barbot, B., Besançon, M., & Lubart, T. (2011). Assessing creativity in the classroom. The Open Education Journal, 4, 124-132.
Besançon, M. & Lubart, T. (2008). Individual differences in the development of creative competencies in school children. Learning and Individual Differences, 18(4), 381-389. DOI: 10.1016/j.lindif.2007.11.009
Caroff, X. & Besançon, M. (2008). Variability of creativity judgments. Learning and Individual Differences, 18(4), 367-371. DOI: 10.1016/j.lindif.2008.04.001
Books
Besançon, M., & Lubart, T. (2015). La créativité de l’enfant. Bruxelles: Mardaga.
Psychological Test
Lubart, T., Besançon, M., & Barbot, B. (2011). Evaluation of Potential Creativity. ¨Paris: Hogrefe.