Analysis of gender effects upon verbal and visual memory performance in adults

This study investigated gender effects on verbal and visual memory performance in normal adults (age range 18-91 years). The subjects were 140 volunteers (70 male, 70 female). Individuals in each male-female pair were matched within three years on age and two years on education. Shipley Vocabulary scores for the groups also were equivalent. Subjects were administered the Continuous Visual Memory Test (CVMT), Visual Reproduction subtest (VR), Verbal Selective Reminding Test (VSRT), and Expanded Paired Associate Test (EPAT). Results revealed no differences between males and females for either the Acquisition or Delayed phases of the CVMT and EPAT. Differences for the Delayed VR task also were not significant. Male-female differences for the Immediate VR task were marginally significant, although the mean difference was less than one point, females consistently outperformed males on the VSRT, particularly in the Acquisition phase. Differences on the Delayed task, while statistically significant, averaged only 12 point.