Effect of age at puberty on spatial ability in girls: A question of mechanism

• Published in: Developmental psychology 1983-03, Vol.19 (2), p.215-224
• Main Authors: Newcombe, Nora, Bandura, Mary M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cerebral Dominance; Female; Human; Human Females; Masculinity; Practice; Puberty; Spatial Ability
• ISSN: 0012-1649; 1939-0599
• DOI: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.2.215

Tested 2 hypotheses related to the finding of D. P. Waber that late maturers of both sexes perform better on measures of spatial ability than early maturers do. Waber hypothesized that this phenomenon is related to hemispheric organization of cognitive functions. An alternative hypothesis is that the differences are related to psychosocial correlates of timing of puberty. These hypotheses were evaluated by measuring pubertal status; spatial ability; patterns of functional hemispheric specialization, as assessed by a dichhaptic task; participation in spatial activities; and masculine and feminine personality traits and interests in 85 11-yr-old girls. Results indicate that (a) spatial ability was positively correlated with later maturation; (b) spatial ability was positively correlated with masculine personality traits, masculine intellectual interests in the ideal self, and wanting to be a boy; (c) later maturation was positively correlated with the Femininity Scale of the California Psychological Inventory and negatively correlated with participation in 22 spatial activities; and (d) performance on the dichhaptic task was not correlated with either timing of puberty or spatial ability. Regression analyses indicated that masculinity variables and maturation rate had independent associations with spatial ability. It is suggested that both factors could be sources of sex differences in spatial ability. (49 ref)