Differences In Spatial Ability Research Articles

Scoring Procedure, Performance Factors, and Magnitude of Sex Differences in Spatial Performance

The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate the influence of procedural factors on the magnitude of sex differences in a test of spatial ability. Two hundred and seven females and 155 males were administered the Mental Rotations Test (MRT) under timed and untimed conditions. Four different scoring procedures were used: total score, ratio of correct responses to the number of items attempted, score out of 24, and score out of 48. Significant sex differences were obtained in the timed condition but not in the untimed condition. Results also revealed that the magnitude of sex differences was reduced when a ratio score was used. Analysis of the pattern of responses provided insights into the causes of sex differences on the MRT. Results are interpreted in terms of their implications for research on sex differences in spatial ability.

Of Mice and Mazes: Similarities Between Mice and Rats on Dry Land But Not Water Mazes

Mice are impaired relative to rats in place and matching-to-place learning when tests are given in a swimming pool. The rat advantage may stem from a superior spatial ability or from adaptation to a niche that has prepared them for competency in the water. In the present study, mice (C57BL/6) were compared with rats (Long-Evans) in a number of dry-land spatial tasks given on a radial arm maze and in a place task given in a swimming pool. The performance of the mice matched that of the rats in all dry-land tasks, but was inferior to that of the rats in the swimming pool. The results provide further evidence for a species difference in swimming-pool performance but do not support the idea that there are necessary differences in spatial abilities between mice and rats. It is suggested that, if optimal place learning is required for neurobehavioral studies of mice, such performance is more likely to be obtained in dry-land tasks than in swimming-pool tasks. Nevertheless, the species differences warrent further study because they could provide important insights into species differences is spatial learning more generally.

Gender differences in dynamic spatial abilities

Gender differences in spatial ability were evaluated for two computerized dynamic (one power and one speed) and two static paper and pencil (one power and one speed) tests over sessions. Four factors were evaluated in a factorial design: gender, practice (i.e. session), paper and pencil vs dynamic (i.e. computerized) spatial tests, and power vs speed. A total of 250 paid volunteer men and women were tested in a counterbalanced design over two sessions. Results revealed two significant ( P < 0.05) triple interactions involving gender, session, and power vs speed as well as dynamic vs paper and pencil tests. Although men generally did better than women and all subjects improved with practice, women improved at a faster rate for the speeded computer task and were not statistically different from the men at session 2. Future research should be directed toward two main thrusts: the effects of practice on the power tests and the effect of practice on the predictive validity of the speeded computerized tests.

Understanding Individual Differences in Spatial Ability within Females: A Nature/Nurture Interactionist Framework

This paper reviews a program of research, conducted in collaboration with several of my colleagues, which examines individual differences in spatial ability from a biological/environmental interaction perspective. Our research strategy has been to identify the females who provide the exceptions to the male advantage in mental rotation ability. We tested a “bent twig” model, identifying a subgroup of females predicted to have a combination of genetic potential (assessed through familial handedness patterns) and prior experiences (assessed through choice of major and number of spatial experiences). The identified subgroup of women significantly outperformed all other groups of women on the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. Using a selective interference paradigm, we also found spatial strategy differences both within and between gender groups. To demonstrate the importance of mental rotation skills for females, we documented a relation between this type of spatial ability and both math SAT's and math self-confidence.

The relation between mathematical achievement and gender differences in spatial abilities: A suppression effect.

The relation between mathematical achievement and gender differences in spatial abilities: A suppression effect.

A Reply to Halpern's Commentary: Theory-Driven Methods for Classifying Groups Can Reveal Individual Differences in Spatial Ability within Females

In Halpern's commentary, she strongly supports our theoretical and methodological framework for addressing the ways in which biological and environmental factors interact to influence spatial ability in females (see my review in this issue). I have reanalyzed a data set using two classification methods, to address Halpern's specific criticism that another researcher (McKeever, 1991) has found a pattern of results different from ours. The right-handed females from a suburban high school sample were given the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test, the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, and a family handedness questionnaire. When these females were divided into familial handedness subgroups based on the criteria used by McKeever, no significant differences were obtained. However, using a theory-driven classification system based on Annett's genetic theory, I found significantly reduced spatial ability among the predicted subgroup of right-handed females. In this reply: (1) I also address Halpern's main criticism regarding the genetic basis of handedness (which is the underlying assumption of Annett's theory), and (2) I have described a mechanism which may account for the impact of both genetic and environmental factors on individual differences in handedness and pattern of fetal brain development.

Sex differences in visual spatial ability in 9-year-old children

Sex differences in spatial ability have not been reliably demonstrated in prepubertal children. This could in part be due to the lack of age-appropriate and reliable tests. In this study, adult versions of multiple-choice tests measuring three different spatial ability categories were adapted for use with 9-year-old children. Sex differences of 0.6 to 0.8 and 0.4 standard deviation units were found in mental rotation and spatial perception, respectively, indicating that reliable sex differences in spatial ability are present in prepubertal children. A small (0.2) and nonsignificant difference appeared in spatial visualization. These effect sizes and their distribution across categories are similar to meta-analytic results based on adolescent and adult data. Analyses of test intercorrelations showed that the shared variance among tests was higher in boys than in girls, suggesting that spatial ability is a more unified trait in boys as compared to girls, in whom spatial abilities are more heterogeneously organized.

Where in the world am I? Sex and handedness differences in knowledge of geography.

218 college students (96 men and 122 women, including nearly equal numbers of right-handers and left-handers) were administered a modified version of the "Gallup Geography Test." Men outperformed women, and left-handed women outperformed right-handed women. We suggest that these results cannot be easily explained by any credible sociocultural model but are consistent with a neuropsychological model of sex and handedness differences in spatial ability advanced by Harshman, Hampson, and Berenbaum in 1983.

Mary has more: Sex differences, autism, coherence, and theory of mind

AbstractWe challenge the notion that differences in spatial ability are the best or only explanation for observed sex differences in mathematical word problems. We suggest two ideas from the study of autism: sex differences in theory of mind and in central coherence.

The logic of the sociobiological model Geary-style

AbstractGeary's is the traditional view of the sexes. Yet each part of his argument – the move from sex differences in spatial ability and social preferences to a sex difference in mathematical ability, the claim that the former are biologically primary, and the sociobiological explanation of these differences – requires considerable further work. The notion of a biologically secondary ability is itself problematic.

How important is spatial ability to mathematics?

AbstractThis commentary focuses on one of the many issues raised in Geary's target article: the importance of gender differences in spatial ability to gender differences in mathematics. I argue that the evidence for the central role of spatial ability in mathematical ability, or in gender differences in it, is tenuous at best.

Gender Differences and Similarities in the Spatial Ability of Adolescents

It is generally accepted that males are superior to females in spacial ability. To test this assumption, the Silver Drawing Test (SDT) was administered to students 12 to 15 years old (N = 33 girls, 33 boys) attending public schools in Nebraska, New York, and Pennsylvania. The test instrument included two spacial subtests: Predictive Drawing (ability to predict and represent sequential order, horizontality, and verticality) and Drawing from Observation (ability to perceive and represent left-right, above-below, and front-back relationships). No significant differences in spatial ability were found.

Sexually dimorphic spatial learning in meadow voles Microtus pennsylvanicus and deer mice Peromyscus maniculatus.

A number of studies examining developmental, neural and hormonal aspects of sexually dimorphic spatial learning (Morris water-maze) in meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) are described. We found that, in adult deer mice, female spatial performance decreased during the breeding season relative to the non-breeding season, whereas the reverse pattern was observed in male performance. There was a sex difference favouring males in spatial learning during the breeding season, but not during the non-breeding season. In adult meadow voles, females with low levels of oestradiol and males performed better in the water-maze than females with high levels of oestradiol. Postweaning voles (20 and 25 days after birth) acquired the water-maze task more quickly than preweaning voles (day 10). No sex difference in water-maze performance was evident at any of these juvenile ages. When these same voles were tested again as adults to investigate retention and re-acquisition of the water-maze, both males and females from male-biased litters re-acquired the task better than males and females from female-biased litters. Together, the results of these studies indicate that sexually dimorphic spatial ability is dependent on the organization (in utero) and activational effects of gonadal hormones. These studies provide the first demonstration of the influence of natural changes in reproductive status on spatial learning of deer mice and meadow voles. The results also demonstrate that spatial performance of males and females is differentially affected by changes in reproductive status and that group differences in the laboratory are associated with group differences in space utilization in the wild. These findings help to clarify previous apparently contradictory findings about sex differences in spatial ability.

Gender-related differences in spatial ability and the k factor of general spatial ability in a population of academically talented students

Spatial ability is an area of cognitive functioning in which evidence of gender-related differences in performance tends to emerge relatively often. Previous research has found, however, that different types of spatial tasks differ in their amounts of gender-sensitivity. Mental rotation tasks, for instance, have often shown large gender-related differences in favour of males, whereas there are small differences or advantages for females on visual memory tasks. Therefore, the present study examined the profile of differences across a wide array of types of spatial tasks. Two forms of a spatial test battery containing 14 types of items each were administered to academically talented middle and high school students. Factor analysis yielded a strong general factor (termed “ k factor”) underlying performance in both forms. The gender-sensitivity of the item types depended to a considerable extent on the loadings of the subtests on the k factor. When the k factor was partialled out of the variances of the tests, gender-related differences on the various types of items were reduced, often to insignificance, and some tests that had initially exhibited little gender-related variance showed advantages for females. Mental rotation and visualization of perspectives, however, consistently showed substantial gender-related variance beyond the variation explained by the k factor.

Spatial Ability, Student Gender, and Academic Performance

AbstractTwo groups of engineering students were tested for spatial ability (Mental Rotation Test = MRT). There were sex differences favouring males, similar to those seen in other academic programs. There were no significant sex differences in academic course performance, suggesting that differences in spatial ability as measured by the MRT do not have an impact on course performance. In addition, minimal experience with the mental rotation task produced large gains in performance and reduced the magnitude of sex differences. The results suggest that sweeping statements about the relation between differences in spatial ability and performance in science and mathematics subject areas, especially with reference to females, must be viewed with caution.

Magnitude of sex differences in spatial abilities: a meta-analysis and consideration of critical variables.

In recent years, the magnitude, consistency, and stability across time of cognitive sex differences have been questioned. The present study examined these issues in the context of spatial abilities. A meta-analysis of 286 effect sizes from a variety of spatial ability measures was conducted. Effect sizes were partitioned by the specific test used and by a number of variables related to the experimental procedure in order to achieve homogeneity. Results showed that sex differences are significant in several tests but that some intertest differences exist. Partial support was found for the notion that the magnitude of sex differences has decreased in recent years. Finally, it was found that the age of emergence of sex differences depends on the test used. Results are discussed with regard to their implications for the study of sex differences in spatial abilities.

Estrus-associated decrements in a water maze task are limited to acquisition

To ascertain whether gonadal hormones have activational influences on spatial ability, the relationship between estrous cycle, sex differences and water maze performance was examined in two studies. In the first study, the performance of females at different cycle phases was compared within females and to that of males. All animals were naive to the task. Similar to other studies, females had longer latencies and distances to reach the water maze platform than males. This sex difference was statistically significant only in comparisons of estrous females and males, not in comparisons of diestrous females and males. To determine whether estrus-associated decrements in acquisition of the water maze task extended to postacquisition performance, a second study assessed performance of ovariectomized rats—trained to criterion in the task—whose cycle phases were mimicked by exogenous hormones. In the initial trial, “estrous” animals had longer latencies to reach the platform than “diestrous” and ovariectomized animals. In subsequent trials, no hormone-dependent differences in performance were observed. Taken together, the results indicate a modest association between phase of estrous cycle, acquisition, and postacquisition performance when the task is novel. These findings suggest estrus-associated decrements in acquisition may account for previous discrepancies among studies of sex differences in spatial ability.

Hormone and hemisphericity hypotheses regarding cognitive sex differences: Possible future explanatory power, but current empirical chaos

Two general hypotheses regarding the possible basis of cognitive sex differences posit sex steroid hormone differences and differences in hemispheric specialization characteristics as responsible. This article reviews (1) a limited segment of the literature regarding sex steroid influences, namely, that dealing with “activating” influences; and (2) some data suggesting that dextral women who are positive for familial sinistrality could be a group who contribute heavily to the mean sex difference in spatial ability. The general conclusion of these reviews is that despite the promise of some future integration of hormone and hemispheric specialization hypotheses and understanding of how they might relate to cognitive sex differences, present data are highly inconsistent.

Sex-related Differences in Spatial Ability: What Every Geography Educator Should Know

Abstract This paper focuses on how geography teachers might contribute to two national goals: attracting more women into scientific and technical fields, and helping domestic students of both sexes acquire the spatial abilities and knowledge required to make them first in the world in science and mathematics achievement. Study in the general sciences and in engineering often demands a high degree of spatial competence. This paper explores the nature of the relationship between sex and spatial competence, generally emphasizing some of the scientific components of geography. It seeks first to identify key spatial abilities needed to excel in various science, technical, and some social science and humanities disciplines. It further seeks to answer the question of whether males possess superior spatial ability, as has been reported in a number of disciplinary literatures, or whether male dominance in spatial ability generally has been overestimated. Finally, it suggests areas where there is potential for geog...

Stimulus features and sex differences in mental rotation test performance

This study examined sex differences in spatial abilities using a standard two-dimensional paper-and-pencil test of mental rotation administered to 410 subjects. A personality questionnaire and six other ability tests related to mental rotation were also administered: numerical ability, verbal ability, inductive reasoning, associative memory, perceptual speed and accuracy, and speed of closure. Structural and superficial features of the tasks were specified, and sex differences in accuracy and speed were examined. Certain features of the mental rotation test stimuli (e.g., long trajectories, multilined or multispotted) proved difficult for both males and females, but more difficult for females. These findings were interpreted in the light of Just and Carpenter's (1985) model. Males also completed more items than females. In this regard, personality factors related to cautiousness yielded significant negative correlations with speed. On the related ability tests, males outperformed females on a numerical skills test, and females outperformed males on an associative memory test. No significant sex differences emerged on the other four ability tests.