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Female advantage in verbal learning revisited: a HUNT study.
V Kljajevic1, H R Evensmoen1,2, D Sokołowski1,2
1Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.
Memory (Hove, England)
|April 28, 2023
Summary
Women show a consistent advantage in word list learning, including learning, recall, and recognition. This female advantage is linked to auditory attention span and interference control, not just memory scores.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Human Cognition
Background:
- Previous research suggests a female advantage in verbal memory tasks.
- This advantage is often attributed to specific task components, lacking a holistic view.
- The role of underlying cognitive abilities in word list learning requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the consistency of the female advantage across word list learning, recall, and recognition.
- To examine how cognitive abilities like memory, attention, and clustering differentially support word list learning.
- To determine the sex-specific mechanisms underlying word list learning performance.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of a large dataset (N=4403) of individuals aged 13-97 from the general population.
- Assessment of word list learning, recall, and recognition performance.
- Evaluation of cognitive abilities including short-term memory, working memory, auditory attention span, and pattern separation.
Main Results:
- A robust female advantage was observed in all aspects of word list learning.
- Semantic and serial clustering mediated memory effects, with men benefiting more from these strategies.
- Auditory attention span mediated pattern separation effects in recognition, with a stronger effect in men.
- Men exhibited better short-term/working memory but lower auditory attention span and higher vulnerability to interference.
Conclusions:
- Auditory attention span and interference control, rather than memory scores or clustering strategies alone, primarily underlie women's superior word list learning.
- Sex differences in cognitive abilities contribute to varied performance in verbal memory tasks.
- Understanding these cognitive underpinnings provides a more nuanced view of sex-based memory performance.
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