Relationship between performance on the Everyday Spatial Activities Test and on objective measures of spatial behavior in men and women

Beatty, William W.; Duncan, Dee

doi:10.3758/bf03334011

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Large and reliable sex differences favoring men have been found for this task (Vandenberg and Kuse 1978), and have been frequently replicated (Linn and Petersen 1985). While effect sizes for the male advantage vary somewhat from study to study (Voyer et al 1995), they are on the whole consistently high (see Table 1; Beatty and Duncan 1990;Epting and Overman 1998;Peters 2005). The male advantage is observed cross-culturally, and as such is likely not the result of environmental factors (Silverman et al 2007).…”

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confidence: 71%

Sex influences on the neurobiology of learning and memory

Andreano¹,

Cahill²

2009

Learn. Mem.

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In essentially every domain of neuroscience, the generally implicit assumption that few, if any, meaningful differences exist between male and female brain function is being challenged. Here we address how this development is influencing studies of the neurobiology of learning and memory. While it has been commonly held that males show an advantage on spatial tasks, and females on verbal tasks, there is increasing evidence that sex differences are more widespread than previously supposed. Differing performance between the sexes have been observed on a number of common learning tasks in both the human and animal literature, many neither purely spatial nor verbal. We review sex differences reported in various areas to date, while attempting to identify common features of sexually dimorphic tasks, and to place these differences in a neurobiological context. This discussion focuses on studies of four classes of memory tasks for which sex differences have been frequently reported: spatial, verbal, autobiographical, and emotional memory. We conclude that the female verbal advantage extends into numerous tasks, including tests of spatial and autobiographical abilities, but that a small but significant advantage may exist for general episodic memory. We further suggest that for some tasks, stress evokes sex differences, which are not normally observed, and that these differences are mediated largely by interactions between stress and sex hormones.Sex influences on brain function are ubiquitous. Differences between the sexes have been documented at every level of neuroscience, from single neurons in cell culture to systems level processes as measured by neuroimaging. In some cases, consideration of sex may significantly alter, even reverse, conclusions about brain function drawn from the study of one sex alone (Cahill 2006). In some fields, such as the study of drug addiction, the evidence for sex differences is so strong that consideration of sex as a factor is becoming the norm, rather than the exception (Wetherington 2007).The claim that these neurobiological sex differences extend to the behavioral level has typically been more controversial. A recent review of the literature on this topic warns against the ''costs of overinflated claims of gender differences.'' The review holds that overall ''males and females are alike on most-but not all-psychological variables'' (Hyde 2005), but notes exceptions where sex does have an effect, including sexual and aggressive behaviors. Still, given how broadly sex differences are distributed on the neural level, it seems unlikely that their behavioral effects would be restricted solely to these domains.One area of behavior not considered in Hyde's review is the influence of sex on learning and memory. It is becoming increasingly clear, however, that an understanding of the neurobiological and cognitive consequences of sex is relevant across this field. In the review that follows, behavioral evidence indicating differences between men and women from numerous memory tasks will be co...

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confidence: 71%

Sex influences on the neurobiology of learning and memory

Andreano¹,

Cahill²

2009

Learn. Mem.

616

400

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Instead, it is sufficient to note two points of contention, and these points are not controversial in themselves. First, the claim of male superiority on spatial tasks finds experimental support only from a restricted group of tests, notably the Rod and Frame Task (Allen & Hogeland, 1978; Hyde, Geiringer, & Yen, 1975; Linn & Peterson, 1985), the Water Level Task (Beatty & Duncan, 1990; Goldbeck, 1986; Liben & Goldbeck, 1984; Linn & Peterson, 1985, Thomas, Jamison, & Hummel, 1973), and a variety of mental rotation tasks (Bryden, George, & Inch, 1990; Casey & Braebeck, 1990; Cochran & Wheatley, 1989; Gouchie & Kimura, 1991; Kail & Park, 1990; Lord, 1987; Mann, Sasanuma, Sakuma, & Masaki, 1990). While these tasks provide the strongest evidence for a male advantage, the advantage is by no means universal, and is subject to a variety of qualifications (Byrd et al, 1990; Corballis & Sergent, 1989; Gilger & Ho, 1989; Liben & Goldbeck, 1984; Kail, Pellegrino, & Carter, 1980; Kail, Carter, & Pellegrino, 1979; Olson, Eliot, & Hardy, 1988).…”

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confidence: 99%

Performance of male and female children, adolescents and adults on spatial tasks that involve everyday objects and settings.

Alyman

Peters²

1993

Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue canadienne

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Nine 1 different spatial tests were given to 52 male and 52 female children, 30 male and 33 female adolescents and 46 male and 48 female adults. Eight of the tests were designed to involve stimuli and settings with which subjects would have everyday experience. Significant sex differences were observed only on 2 of the nine tasks. In those cases where sex differences were observed, the effect sizes were well below .100, suggesting that the magnitudes of the sex differences were minimal. The fact that no sex effects were found on 7 of the 9 spatial tasks allows, at most, the statement that males perform better than females on some spatial tasks. There is no justification for the global statement that "males excel in spatial abilities".Resume Neuf 2 tests d'habilete spatiale differents ont et£ administrcs a des enfants (52 garcons et 52 fillettes), a des adolescents (30 garcons et 33 filles) et a des adultes (46 hommes et 48 femmes). Huit tests comportaient des stimuli et des situations qui font partie du quotidien des sujets. Des differences notables entre les sexes ont ete observees uniquement dans deux des neuf taches. Dans les cas ou des differences ont ete relev6es, l'ampleur de Feffet etait bien inferieure a 0,100, ce qui laisse supposer que les differences entre les deux sexes 6taient minimes. Vu l'absence d'effet reli6 au sexe des sujets dans sept des neuf tSches spatiales, nous pouvons affirmer, tout au plus, que les hommes executent mieux que les femmes certaines taches spatiales. Rien ne justifie 1'affirmation globale que «les hommes excellent dans les taches spatiales».

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“…In other cases with adults, the activity-ability association was only among women (Newcombe, Bandura, & Taylor, 1983), more particularly, among those with a specific genetic profile (Casey & Brabeck, 1990). Still other studies have reported this association across gender in a number of tasks (Gilger & Ho, 1989;Lunneborg, C.E., & Lunneborg, P.W., 1984;Lunneborg, P.W., 1984;Lunneborg, P.W., & Lunneborg, C.E., 1986;Olson & Eliot, 1986), including the water-level task (Beatty & Duncan, 1990). However, in this task other authors have observed that only masculine spatial activities were related either for both genders (Hansen, Jamison, & Signorella, 1982;Signorella, Jamison, & Krupa, 1989) or for women only (Signorella, Krupa, Jamison, & Lyons, 1986).…”

Section: Experiential Correlatesmentioning

confidence: 85%

The gender difference in orienting liquid surfaces and plumb-lines: Its robustness, its correlates, and the associated knowledge of simple physics.

Robert

Harel²

1996

Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology / Revue canadienne

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In comparison between male and female psychology students, a greater proportion of female students fail to represent liquid surfaces and plumb-line objects as invariably horizontal and vertical, respectively. However, the occurrence of this perplexing gender difference has not been ascertained among young adults enrolled in science programs, who should ostensibly be more fully equipped in terms of academic competence, irrespective of their gender. The present large sample of undergraduates (N = 1412), majoring in natural and applied sciences, and social sciences or humanities and arts, completed water-level and plumb-line items, along with other simple physics problems, indicating how and in reference to which principle they had solved these tasks. They also answered questions pertaining to possible personal proficiency correlates of a biological, experiential, perceptual, and sociocognitive nature. The data revealed not only that women’s achievement was consistently poorer than men’s across discipline categories, but surprisingly that this was so even within specific fields requiring and providing the most visuo-spatial skills as well as physical knowledge and training. Especially for women, mastery was predicted by success in simple physics problems, and to a lesser degree by perceptual, sociocognitive, and experiential variables. Biological variables did not contribute to proficiency for either gender, though the data fitted a recessive gene model. Responses based on relevant physics principles were more accurate, but men and women generally adopted the same procedural strategies. The present compelling demonstration of a gender gap in achievement that is not compensated by formal science education, extending thus even to future physical scientists, invites further investigation into its perceptual and cognitive determinants, as well as into those more distally connected with early aptitudes, interests, and experiences.

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Relationship between performance on the Everyday Spatial Activities Test and on objective measures of spatial behavior in men and women

Cited by 18 publications

References 8 publications

Sex influences on the neurobiology of learning and memory

Sex influences on the neurobiology of learning and memory

Performance of male and female children, adolescents and adults on spatial tasks that involve everyday objects and settings.

The gender difference in orienting liquid surfaces and plumb-lines: Its robustness, its correlates, and the associated knowledge of simple physics.

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