Do the sex differences play such an important role in explaining performance in spatial tasks?

► Spatial task solving processes and their relationship with performance are analysed. ► There were significant sex differences in performance, as previous studies have shown. ► The processes carried out determine participant’s efficiency in resolving the task. ► The sex variable’s explicative power...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personality and individual differences 2012-04, Vol.52 (6), p.659-663
Main Authors: Contreras, María José, Martínez-Molina, Agustín, Santacreu, José
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition. Intelligence
Cognitive performance
Cognitive processes
Dynamic tasks
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender differences
Mental Rotation
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Sex differences
Spatial ability
Spatial perception. Time perception
Spatial task performance
Task performance
Time Management
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:► Spatial task solving processes and their relationship with performance are analysed. ► There were significant sex differences in performance, as previous studies have shown. ► The processes carried out determine participant’s efficiency in resolving the task. ► The sex variable’s explicative power in prediction of efficient performance was null. ► Sex differences is not the variable that helps individuals to solve spatial tasks. The largest average sex differences in cognitive performance derives from spatial tasks (Voyer, Voyer, & Bryden, 1995). Analyses performed to date have not been able to satisfactorily explain this difference in performance. Frequently, the “sex” variable is considered a causal factor. However, “sex” is a broad category that entails so many confounding factors that it is nearly impossible to consider it as a causal factor. It would be more appropriate to consider the “sex” variable like a construct that requires the analysis of the test’s cognitive requirements. This research is aimed at explaining sex differences in spatial task performance in terms of sex differences in lower-level cognitive processes. In the task at hand (SODT, Spatial Orientation Dynamic Test) we identified three processes that can be evaluated independently: Mental Rotation (MR), Spatial Orientation (SO), and Time Management (TM). The correlation between these processes was relatively low (.16
ISSN:0191-8869
1873-3549
DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2011.12.010