Do sex-role appropriate materials influence the Piagetian task performance of older adults?

The intent of this study was to assess the influence of sex-role appropriate materials on the utilization of logical competence among older persons, and to determine how such materials interact with subject's sex-role identity to affect cognitive performance. Thirty male and 30 female Ss (mean age = 71.3 years) were administered the Short Form of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory and either a male-oriented, a female-oriented, or a traditional version of two concrete operational and two formal operational Piagetian tasks. Gender was found to influence performance on one of the concrete tasks, task orientation influenced performance on one of the formal tasks, and sex-role classification interacted with task orientation to influence performance on both of the formal operational tasks. The pattern of results suggested that subjects may perform best on those versions of the formal operational tasks that do not match their own sex type. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed.