Gender difference in horizontality performance before and after training

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Development
• Spatial Cognition
• Psychology

Background:

• Piaget's horizontality task assesses understanding of the horizontal plane.
• Some individuals, particularly females, often fail this task.
• Field dependence and sex-role concepts may influence spatial task performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate reasons for failure in Piaget's horizontality task, especially among females.
• Examine the relationship between field dependence, sex-role concepts, and spatial activity history with horizontality performance.
• Assess the effectiveness of training on horizontality task performance.

Main Methods:

• Administered Piaget's horizontality task, rod and frame field-dependence task, Bem's Sex Role Inventory, and a spatial activities questionnaire to 122 undergraduates.
• Provided training on the horizontality task to individuals who initially failed.
• Conducted a horizontality posttest after one month.

Main Results:

• Hierarchical regression analysis showed field dependence significantly correlated with both pretest and posttest horizontality scores.
• Masculine sex-role concepts and sex were significantly related to pretest scores but not posttest scores.
• Training improved horizontality task performance, indicating a potential for enhanced spatial understanding.

Conclusions:

• Field dependence is a key factor in horizontality task performance.
• While initial performance may be influenced by sex and sex-role concepts, spatial cognition skills like horizontality can be improved through targeted training.
• Findings suggest that differences in spatial task performance may be mitigated with appropriate interventions.