Sex Differences In Spatial Ability Research Articles

Hemispheric specialisation, spatial activity experience, and sex differences on tests of mental rotation ability

A sex difference in mental rotation ability is well established. Among the explanations offered for this difference are that males are more frequently right hemisphere specialised for spatial processing and that they receive more spatial processing experience because of the sex stereotyping of activities involving spatial ability that exists in Western societies. Several studies have shown that males do report more spatial activity experiences on the Spatial Activity Questionnaire of Newcombe, Bandura, and Taylor (1983) and that such experience does correlate with performances on tests of mental rotation. However, two prior lateralised tachistoscopic studies failed to show right hemisphere superiority for spatial task performance or that it was positively associated with better performances on the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. The tachistoscopic tasks used in these studies can be criticised on methodological grounds. The present study employed a new tachistoscopic task that showed that males were significantly more right hemisphere specialised (left visual-field superior) for the tachistoscopic task than females. Magnitudes of right hemisphere specialisation on the tachistoscopic task were positively and significantly related to mental rotation ability. Spatial activity experiences were also more common in males. Covariance and partial correlation analyses indicated that the sex difference in spatial ability was primarily due to sex differences in right hemisphere specialisation for mental rotation, while sex differences in spatial activity experiences were only secondarily involved.

Mental rotation and real-world wayfinding.

Sex differences in mental rotation skills are a robust finding in small-scale laboratory-based studies of spatial cognition. There is almost no evidence in the literature, however, relating these skills to performance on spatial tasks in large-scale, real-world activities such as navigating in a new city or in the woods. This study investigates the connections between mental rotation skills as measured by the Vandenburg-Kuse Mental Rotations test and the performance of college students (n=211) navigating a 6-km orienteering course. The results indicate that mental rotation skills are significantly correlated with wayfinding performance on an orienteering task. The findings also replicate sex differences in spatial ability as found in laboratory-scale studies. However, the findings complicate the discussion of mental rotation skills and sex because women often performed as well as men despite having lower mean test scores. This suggests that mental rotation ability may not be as necessary for some women's wayfinding as it is for men's navigation.

MENTAL ROTATION AND REAL-WORLD WAYFINDING

Sex differences in mental rotation skills are a robust finding in small-scale laboratory-based studies of spatial cognition. There is almost no evidence in the literature, however, relating these skills to performance on spatial tasks in large-scale, real-world activities such as navigating in a new city or in the woods. This study investigates the connections between mental rotation skills as measured by the Vandenburg-Kuse Mental Rotations test and the performance of college students (n = 211) navigating a 6-km orienteering course. The results indicate that mental rotation skills are significantly correlated with wayfinding performance on an orienteering task. The findings also replicate sex differences in spatial ability as found in laboratory-scale studies. However, the findings complicate the discussion of mental rotation skills and sex because women often performed as well as men despite having lower mean test scores. This suggests that mental rotation ability may not be as necessary for some women's wayfinding as it is for men's navigation.

A Comparison of Sex Differences in Visual-Spatial Performance from Preadolescence to Adulthood in Ghana and Norway

This study examined sex-related differences in visual-spatial performance from a cross-cultural perspective by comparing cross-sectional data on four visual-spatial tests (measuring three spatial ability categories) on four different age groups (9, 12, 16 and adults) in Ghana and Norway. Reliable sex differences in favor of males were present in all age groups and their effect size magnitudes were practically constant over age in the two cultures. There were significant differences in the test intercorrelations in the two samples, suggesting that different structures of abilities may underlie spatial task performance in the two cultures. The results do not support the notion that the development of sex differences in spatial abilities is dependent on maturational or psychosocial processes. The near adult effect size by age 9 and the stability of the magnitude across cultures, argue for a biologically-based explanation of the observed sex differences in spatial performance.

Continuous place avoidance task reveals differences in spatial navigation in male and female rats

A new place navigation test was used to estimate the spatial orientation abilities of male and female rats. Animals had to avoid a room frame defined area on a rotating arena, entering of which was punished by mild footshock, i.e. rats had to avoid the same place in the room but different parts of the floor, which was rotated through the punished zone. Because of the rotation of the arena (one revolution per min), animals could not rely on intramaze cues and only extramaze landmarks could be used for accurate navigation. During 8 consecutive days rats were exposed to daily 40-min sessions, consisting of 20-min acquisition and 20-min extinction (shock discontinued). The position of the punished sector centered around one of the four mutually perpendicular azimuths was daily changed in a predetermined sequence. The results showed no male–female differences during acquisition and better performance of males during extinction. The performance of females was not affected by estral cycle-related hormonal changes. The findings are discussed in the light of controversial results of research into sex differences in spatial abilities.

Sex Differences in Spatial Abilities: An Evolutionary Explanation

MacIntyre’s (1997) review of gender differences in spatial abilities overlooked findings generated by the metatheory of evolutionary psychology. This oversight reflects an underlying hostility within the social sciences towards the use of evolutionary theory in the study of human behaviour and cognition. As a remedy, this paper outlines the theoretical background of evolutionary psychology, focusing on the insights evolutionary psychology offers for cognitive gender differences research, with particular reference to gender differences in spatial abilities.

Spatial ability in children's play with Lego blocks.

Sex differences in spatial ability have been argued to originate from sex differences in children's play preferences. Child (30 boys and 20 girls) were asked to construct a specific three-dimensional model using Lego blocks and were also given the Shepard and Metzler test of mental rotation. Those who completed the Lego model scored significantly higher in spatial ability than those who did not. Constructional ability was also related to errors made during the construction of the model, but spatial ability was the best predictor of completion of the model.

Sex Differences in Right Hemisphere Tasks

We tested the hypothesis that sex differences in spatial ability and emotional perception are due to sex differences in intrahemispheric organization of the right hemisphere. If the right hemisphere is differently organized by sex—primarily specialized for spatial ability in men, but primarily specialized for emotional perception in women—then there should be a negative correlation between spatial ability and emotional perception within sex, and the greatest disparity between abilities should be found in people with characteristic arousal of the right hemisphere. Undergraduate men (N= 86) and women (N= 132) completed tests of Mental Rotation, Surface Development, Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity, Progressive Matrices, and Chimeric Faces. Although the expected pattern of sex differences was observed, there was no evidence for the hypothesized negative correlation between spatial ability and emotional perception, even after statistical control of general intelligence.

Sex Differences in Visual-Spatial Performance among Ghanaian and Norwegian Adults

Sex differences in spatial ability among adults in Western cultures are widely acknowledged, but few studies have assessed visual-spatial ability in non-Western subjects with tests that show the largest sex differences, and little is known whether effect sizes for different spatial ability categories are the same across cultures. This issue was addressed by using four visual spatial ability tests (water level, surface development, PMA space, and Vandenberg-Kuse) to collect data from university students in Ghana (n = 197) and Norway (n = 220). Except for the Surface Development test, on which no sex difference appeared in either sample, males perforned significantly better than females in both samples, and the effect sizes (r) were about medium, with no significant between-nationality difference on individual tests. These results showed that patterns and magnitudes of sex differences in spatial abilities were simiilar across cultures. The test intercorrelation patterns in the two samples differed markedly, suggesting that the ability structure underlying spatial performance may be different in the two cultures.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

The Hunter-Gatherer theory of spatial sex differences: Proximate factors mediating the female advantage in recall of object arrays

Based on their theory that sex differences in spatial abilities originated in human evolution as a function of division of labor, Silverman and Eals (1992) demonstrated in a series of studies that females consistently surpassed males in recall of locations of objects in a spatial array. The present studies were replications of the above, but with the inclusion of uncommon objects, for which subjects would not possess verbal labels. Female superiority for recall of locations of common objects as observed in Silverman and Eals was replicated across incidental and directed learning conditions. The female advantage occured as well for uncommon objects, but only under incidental learning conditions. Conjectures are offered regarding sex differences in attentional and imagery processes that could account for this pattern of results.

Masking and visual field effects on a lateralized rod-and-frame test.

The rod-and-frame test (RFT) has been widely used in the study of sex differences in spatial abilities. However, laterality studies involving this test are very scarce. An experiment was conducted to investigate whether laterality effects would be affected by post-stimulus masking. Ninety-six subjects participated in the experiment. For half the subjects, stimuli were followed by a blank screen, while for the other half, stimuli were followed by a mask. An overall left visual field advantage (LVFA) was found in the task. An interaction of sex of subjects, masking conditions, and frame tilt was also found. Further analyses showed that the sex by angle of frame interaction was significant when a mask was presented after the stimuli, but not when no mask followed the stimuli. Data tended to confirm the hypothesis that the LVFA was only significant when a mask was presented after the stimuli. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of a masking procedure in visual field studies, whereas the right hemisphere advantage found on the RFT is consistent with previous findings with visuo-spatial tasks.