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2 results

  • 14 - Sex Differences in Intelligence

  • from Part III - Intelligence and Group Differences
  • Edited by Robert J. Sternberg, Cornell University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence
    Published online:
    13 December 2019
    Print publication:
    16 January 2020, pp 317-345

  • Summary

    The ways in which women and men differ in intelligence and specific cognitive abilities are among psychology’s most heated controversies. Massive amounts of data show that although there are some on average differences in specific cognitive abilities, there is considerable overlap in the male and female distributions. There are no sex differences in general intelligence – standardized IQ tests were written to show no differences, and separate assessments that were not written with this criterion show no differences in general intelligence. There are more males in some categories of mental disability that are genetically linked, but there are no genetic explanations for differential achievement at the high end of the distributions. Average between-sex differences on specific cognitive abilities – notably reading and writing (female advantage) and some mathematical and visuospatial abilities (male advantage) – often show considerable cross-cultural variation in effect size. Additionally, there have been changes over time so that any conclusions about this controversial topic that we make today may need to be revised in the future.

  • 12 - Multimedia Learning: GuidingVisuospatial Thinking with Instructional Animation

  • Edited by Priti Shah, Akira Miyake, University of Toronto
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking
    Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    18 July 2005, pp 477-508

  • Summary

    This chapter discusses sex differences that are found in a variety of tests of visuospatial abilities ranging from standardized paper-and-pencil or computerized tasks to tests of way-finding ability and geographical knowledge. Visuospatial information processing involves interplay of multiple cognitive processes, including visual and spatial sensation and perception, a limited capacity visuospatial working memory, and longer-term memories where visual and spatial information may be encoded in many ways. Certain visuospatial and mathematical abilities are related, and visuospatial sex differences have been suggested to contribute to observed sex differences in mathematics performance. Many cultures show similar patterns of visuospatial sex differences, a finding that seems to support theories based on the principles of evolutionary psychology. The chapter explores how factors rooted in biology, specifically the what-where visual systems, hemispheric lateralization, and exposure to sex steroid hormones, may relate to visuospatial skill and to sex differences in those abilities.