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Sex differences in spatial ability in children.

K A Kerns1, S A Berenbaum

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Health Sciences, Chicago Medical School, Illinois 60064.

Behavior Genetics
|July 1, 1991
PubMed
Summary
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Sex differences in spatial ability emerge before adolescence. Using age-appropriate tests, researchers found significant differences in preadolescent children, suggesting early origins for these cognitive variations.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Established sex differences in adult spatial ability, with males typically outperforming females post-puberty.
  • Limited evidence for sex differences in spatial ability among children under 13 due to inadequate measurement tools.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate sex differences in spatial ability in preadolescent children using measures comparable to those showing adult differences.
  • To determine if appropriate spatial tests reveal sex differences in children aged 9-13.

Main Methods:

  • Administered four tests of mental rotation and spatial visualization to two distinct child samples.
  • Sample 1: 81 children (39 males, 42 females) aged 9-12 years.
  • Sample 2: 42 children (21 males, 21 females) aged 9-13 years.

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Main Results:

  • Significant sex differences, ranging from 0.4-0.6 standard deviations, were observed on three of the four spatial tests in both child samples.
  • These findings suggest that sex differences in spatial ability are detectable in preadolescents with suitable assessment tools.

Conclusions:

  • Appropriate spatial ability tests can reveal sex differences in preadolescent children, challenging previous assumptions of their absence.
  • This research provides a foundation for exploring the biological and sociocultural factors contributing to sex differences in spatial skills from an early age.