Gender Differences in visuospatial abilities Essay

Gender differences in visuospatial abilities: what factors play an important role?

Abstract

It has been argued that through tests such as a Line judgment test, one that measures visuospatial ability, males score higher than females. This report measures speed and accuracy in the Line Judgment test, and includes a separate Driving test which also measures visuospatial ability, and investigates what factors play an important role in these two experiments. Undergraduate males (N = 39) outperformed undergraduate females (N = 49). Agreeing with past research, males were found to be better at both tasks, with female reaction times, in the Line judgment task, found to be larger. In the computerised driving test males again did better than females, their results coinciding with that of the Line judgment test, but, with females, there was seen to be a variation in correlation between both tests. Due to this, the driving test was discussed to be a good form of visuospatial task, or bad.   We looked at other factors that might have helped towards this variance in results and drew the conclusion that factors, such as practice, do play a role in the driving test, therefore proving to be a bad way of measuring visuospatial abilities between males and females.


Introduction

The study of difference in gender has many experiments in which one can find a real majority in either males or females. Research has found that men have an advantage with visuospatial tasks, compared to women (e.g. Delgado AR, Prieto G. 1996)¹, such as driving a car, map reading and navigation. The next study was used in order to find these differences and present clear correlations between the two sexes.

These experiments can range from a pencil and paper task to a computerised one. Using a 3-D mental rotation test, a line judgment task, a standard IQ test, watching someone play a chess game or park a car; are all ways to measure differences – even putting a factor such as speed into the...