Bentley Gibson, also known as Ginger, was born and raised in White Plains, NY. She attended Spelman College where she majored in Psychology. It was during her undergraduate experience that she became interested in research, so she started an internship at the Learning and Language Lab at Emory. Interning at this lab gave her the opportunity to conduct research on how comparison helps young children categorize familiar objects. She also conducted a small scale study that examined the relationship between the sexual attitudes of African American women and socially desirable responding. Her research was selected to be presented at the Southeastern Psychological Association in 2008.

At Spelman, Ginger was a violinist in the AUC orchestra, a mentor/tutor in various schools in urban communities in Atlanta and also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated. Ginger has always been interested in different cultures and the role one's culture plays in the development of their sense of self. Her interest in this area was heightened when she discovered the 1950's doll study by psychologists Mamie and Kenneth Clark. This study is what prompted the government to integrate the American public school system because young minority children had a negative sense of self due to segregation. This study has recently been replicated and although schools have now been integrated, the same results were found. This has inspired Ginger to want to further understand how a child views self and others. Bentley plans to investigate the impact of culture on cognitive development by working with young children in Dr. Rochat's lab. She looks forward to learning and reading more about these interests during her first year at Emory, as well as starting her research.