Sex Differences In Verbal Abilities Research Articles

Verbal Abilities: Sex Differences in Children at Different Ages.

The assertion of sex differences in verbal abilities is a highly controversial subject. Some studies have demonstrated a female advantage; other studies have found higher rates in males. The results depended on the type of verbal ability that was studied, the cultural context, and the ages of the subjects. There are two types of theories that have been developed to explain the existence of sex differences in cognitive abilities. Social theories explain the differences as caused by social determinants. Biological theories consider biological factors such as prenatal development conditions and hormone levels, among others, as the cause of sex differences. To investigate sex differences in verbal abilities in children of different ages. Two different editions of Wechsler tests were used. For children age 2.5 to 5 years, the Wechsler Preschool Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV) was used. For children age 6 and older, we administered the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V). The total sample included 313 children. The study found significant sex differences in performance on the Verbal Comprehension Scale in children of different ages. At the age of 2 to 4 years, the girls performed better than the boys. In the group of boys, there was a significant increase in verbal abilities at the age of 8-9 years. By the age of 10-11 years, boys began outperforming girls on the Verbal Comprehension Index. Scores on the Verbal Comprehension and Visual Spatial subtests for the boy sample showed stronger correlations than in the girl sample in all age groups. Sex differences in verbal abilities varied depending on the age of the children. The boys showed a stronger integration of their verbal abilities into the structure of their intelligence than the girls.

Sex Differences in Verbal Abilities in the Wechsler Tests: A Review

It has frequently been asserted that females have higher verbal abilities than males. A review of studies of sex differences in verbal abilities in the Wechsler tests shows there was no difference of Verbal IQ on the WPPSI for 4 to 6 year olds. On the WISC for 6 to 16 year olds, males obtained a higher median than females on the Verbal IQ of .16d, and in the WAIS tests for adults males obtained a higher median score than females of .28d. Males obtained higher average scores than females on the Information, Vocabulary, Arithmetic, Comprehension and Similarities subtests of WISC and WAIS.

Sex Differences on the Mill-Hill Vocabulary Scale and Scholastic Achievement in Nigerian Public School Students

Sex differences in verbal ability and scholastic achievement have rarely been examined in African populations. The present study investigated sex differences on the British Mill Hill Vocabulary Scale (MHVS) and scholastic achievement in English and Mathematics in a sample of 5,389 Nigerian public school students aged 11 to 19 years. The MHVS was significantly positively correlated with English and Mathematics, but the correlation was greater for English (r = .39, p < .01) than for Mathematics (r = .19, p < .01). Except for the 11-12 year olds, females obtained consistently higher scores than males on the MHVS and English. However, the differences were modest (average d = -0.11 for MHVS, d = -0.06 for English). There was a slight male superiority in performance in mathematics (d = 0.06). These results were largely consistent with findings from many Western samples. Keywords: Sex differences; Vocabulary; Verbal ability; Mathematics; Nigeria; Simber effect

Understanding misunderstanding: a study of sex differences in meaning attribution

There are biologically based sex differences in verbal abilities and in neuropsychological systems of verbal processing. Measurement of observable behaviour, however, does not say much about sex differences in the internal, semantic processing of verbal material. The present study, which was conducted in Canada, China and Russia, investigated sex differences in connotative meaning attribution to the most common concepts using an object scale symmetry in the choice of the nouns and bipolar adjectives (projective semantic method). The results showed that males had a tendency to estimate reality- and work-related concepts more negatively and social- and physical attractors more positively than women. The paper hypothesizes that at the level of the most fundamental semantic processing men favour more exceptional objects than women, and women favour more predictable objects, including rules and routines.

Putative sex differences in verbal abilities and language cortex: A critical review

This review brings together evidence from a diverse field of methods for investigating sex differences in language processing. Differences are found in certain language-related deficits, such as stuttering, dyslexia, autism and schizophrenia. Common to these is that language problems may follow from, rather than cause the deficit. Large studies have been conducted on sex differences in verbal abilities within the normal population, and a careful reading of the results suggests that differences in language proficiency do not exist. Early differences in language acquisition show a slight advantage for girls, but this gradually disappears. A difference in language lateralization of brain structure and function in adults has also been suggested, perhaps following size differences in the corpus callosum. Neither of these claims is substantiated by evidence. In addition, overall results from studies on regional grey matter distribution using voxel-based morphometry, indicate no consistent differences between males and females in language-related cortical regions. Language function in Wada tests, aphasia, and in normal ageing also fails to show sex differentiation.

Imaginary Companions and Impersonated Characters: Sex Differences in Children's Fantasy Play

We compared the incidence of imaginary companions and impersonated characters in 152 three- and four-year-old children (75 males and 77 females). Children and their parents were interviewed about role play in two sessions. Although there were no sex differences in verbal ability or fantasy predisposition, there was a significant difference in the form of children’s imaginary characters: girls were more likely to create imaginary companions, whereas boys were more likely than girls to actively impersonate their characters. There were no significant sex differences in the competence ratings of imaginary companions or impersonated characters. These results suggest that it is important to examine the form and function of children’s pretense to understand sex differences in fantasy play. Sex differences in the play of young children are apparent by 13 months of age (Goldberg & Lewis, 1969). Around the world there are fairly consistent differences in the proportion of rough-and-tumble activity, aggression, and use of large spaces, all higher in boys, as well as cooperation, dyadic versus group play, and preference for finemotor toys, all higher in girls (e.g., Borman, Laine, & Lowe, 1993; Cunningham, Jones, & Taylor, 1994; DiPietro, 1981; Lever, 1978; Mac

Sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability in intellectually talented preadolescents: Their nature, effects, and possible causes

AbstractSeveral hundred thousand intellectually talented 12-to 13-year-olds have been tested nationwide over the past 16 years with the mathematics and verbal sections of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Although no sex differences in verbal ability have been found, there have been consistent sex differences favoring males in mathematical reasoning ability, as measured by the mathematics section of the SAT (SAT-M). These differences are most pronounced at the highest levels of mathematical reasoning, they are stable over time, and they are observed in other countries as well. The sex difference in mathematical reasoning ability can predict subsequent sex differences in achievement in mathematics and science and is therefore of practical importance. To date a primarily environmental explanation for the difference in ability has not received support from the numerous studies conducted over many years by the staff of Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) and others. We have studied some of the classical environmental hypotheses: attitudes toward mathematics, perceived usefulness of mathematics, confidence, expectations/ encouragement from parents and others, sex-typing, and differential course-taking. In addition, several physiological correlates of extremely high mathematical reasoning ability have been identified (left-handedness, allergies, myopia, and perhaps bilateral representation of cognitive functions and prenatal hormonal exposure). It is therefore proposed that the sex difference in SAT-M scores among intellectually talented students, which may be related to greater male variability, results from both environmental and biological factors.

Sex Differences in the Verbal Ability of Socio-Economically Depressed Groups

MANY INVESTIGATORS of the problem of differences in verbal ability between the sexes have reportedly found a small, but consistent statistically significant superiority of females in verbal ability. Such sex differences in this ability are assumed and described by nearly all writers in current educational psychology textbooks. Are such assumptions actually validated by current re search, or are they based essentially on earlier reports of research conducted twenty or more years ago which have remained in the literature? Hurlock (5) for example, writes, in what appears to the writer to be a very excellent developmental psychology text, Boys, at every age, are inferior to girls in size of the vocabulary, in correctness of sentences structure, and in ability to express their meanings adequately. McCarthy (7) in Carmichael (1) is cited as the reference for this assumption. Carmichael, McCarthy summar izes to the effect that . . whenever groups of boys and girls are well matched in intelligence and socio-economic background, and when the situation in which responses are recorded does not tend to favor the interests of one sex or the other, there appear slight differences in favor of girls. She adds that sex differences when the N is large . . seldom prove statistically signifi cant. A corroboration of the slight difference, if any at all, appears in an article written in 1953 by McCarthy (6) in which she states, differences are seldom statistically significant, but the careful observer cannot ignore the amaz ing consistency with which these small differ ences appear in one investigation after another. Much of the supportive data quoted by Mc Carthy and other investigators is based on the classic research of Davis (3), Fisher (4), and Young (8). Fisher, using a population of highly selected boys of superior economic background, found insignificantly small sex differences in verbal ability. The findings of Davis and Young were in agreement that sex differences in lan guage are more marked among children of the lower socio-economic levels than among those from superior homes. Young reported, In spite of the fact that Relief boys and girls differ mark edly,?Relief girls excel Relief boys and the com parisons?result in statistically significant differ ences in all instances.?the largest difference found among the various combinations was that existing between Regular girls and Relief boys. The Regular group surpassed the Relief group in all aspects of language that were analyzed. Some investigators have postulated differences in native endowment to account for the sex dif ferences involved; others have hypothesized the effect of child-rearing practices that tend to favor the verbal development of females. A third postulate is that no real sex difference in verbal ability exists now (perhaps because of changes in environmental factors such as radio and televi sion) if such differences did exist earlier, and that the factor really predictive of verbal ability is social status, as Davidson and Balducci (2), among others, suggest.