Sex differences in general intelligence performance
there are no differences between males and females
Sex differences in sensation and perception performance
starting in childhood, females do better on tests that require fast, accurate processing of info
- women may be more sensitive than men to some sounds
- men are more visually sensitive to changes in light
- males may have more trouble forming a visual image when listening
- controversy about whether males and females differ in the kinds of stimuli to which they pay most attention
Sex differences in learning and memory performance
women are better at verbal memory but this may be because women are better at describing what they remember
both sexes learn and remember gender appropriate info better than gender inappropriate info
Sex differences in Verbal performance
small differences favour women
Sex differences in quantitative performance
small and decreasing tendency for males to outperform females on math tests and word problems
Sex differences in visual-spatial performance
more gender diffs in some types than others
no reliable gender differences
males show small advantage over females
speed of mental rotation has a gender diff favouring males
males perform better on tests of spatiotemporal ability
Biological explanations for cognitive differences (2)
- Circulating hormones
2. Brain organization
Subjective task value and achievement theory
Interest (enjoyment), Attainment value (importance of doing well \or confirming one’s self-esteem), Untility value (importance for future goals), and Cost (negative aspects of engaging)will contribute to the likelihood that an individual will engage in a particular task
Training and experience as an explanation for differences in cognitive performance
- positive relation between experience and performance for both sexes
- even when in the same classroom, males and females do not receive the same training
Gender-role socialization as an explanation for differences in cognitive performance
children learn early to label certain tasks fem. and masc. and show more interest in their gender-appropriate tasks
Self-confidence as an explanation for differences in cognitive performance
Both sexes display more confidence when doing a gender-appropriate task
Stereotype threat can affect performance whenever there is a well-known stereotype, even if its not made explicit
Motivation as an explanation for differences in cognitive performance
Both sexes are more motivated to perform well in areas to which they attach value
the two groups have sometimes learned to attach different values to achievement in particular areas
