An Examination of Study Time Allocation as a Contributor to Sex Differences in Multitrial Verbal Learning Performance

Researchers have noted sex differences in verbal memory performance with females showing a memory superiority effect. Research paradigms have largely incorporated experimenter-timed materials. Therefore, the extent to which self-regulating study time influences this pattern of sex differences is unclear. The researcher reexamined data from a published paper to determine whether sex differences in multitrial verbal learning are minimized when individuals self-regulate their study time, or if sex differences would still remain. The results from this study showed that females outperformed males on subsequent test trials, and they allocated more study time. Controlling for the influence of study time allocation reduced or eliminated sex differences in memory performance, and only study time allocation was related to whether items were gained or lost across trials. These findings suggest the importance of self-regulated learning in reducing sex differences on a verbal memory task and the contribution of study time allocation to memory performance.