Abstract
Sex differences are repeatedly observed in spatial cognition tasks. However, the role of environmental factors such as gaming experience remains unclear. In this exploratory study, navigation and object-relocation were combined in a naturalistic virtual reality-based spatial task. The sample consisted of n = 53 Dutch children aged 9–11 years. Overall, girls (n = 24) and boys (n = 29) performed equally accurately, although there was an increase in accuracy with age for boys (ηp2 = 0.09). Boys navigated faster than girls (ηp2 = 0.29), and this difference increased with age (ηp2 = 0.07). More gaming experience in boys versus girls (Cohen’s d = 0.88) did not explain any result observed. We encourage future confirmatory studies to use the paradigm presented here to investigate the current results in a larger sample. These findings could be beneficial for optimizing spatial cognition training interventions.
Highlights
Sex differences in cognitive abilities are repeatedly observed in the field of spatial cognition, often favouring males
We found that boys performed faster on the task, and their navigational speed increased with age
For both boys and girls, performance was generally better on the identical starting positions condition compared with the different starting positions condition, and this difference increased with age, albeit only for navigational speed
Summary
Sex differences in cognitive abilities are repeatedly observed in the field of spatial cognition, often favouring males (see [1,2] for reviews). Spatial cognition can be described as the knowledge and cognitive representation of the structure, entities, and relations of space [3]. Spatial abilities are paramount to human survival for a wide variety of daily tasks, allowing us to use tools, estimate magnitudes, and navigate, among other examples. The origin of the difference in spatial abilities between the sexes is highly debated. Biological factors play a role, but so do environmental factors, and these factors further interact in a complex fashion [1,4]. In the exploratory study presented here, we examine differences in spatial cognition between boys and girls, taking into account both age and experience with playing computer games
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