Large Visuospatial Sex Difference in Line Judgment: Possible Role of Attentional Factors

doi:10.1006/brcg.2001.1321

Brain and Cognition

Volume 49, Issue 1, June 2002, Pages 1-12

https://doi.org/10.1006/brcg.2001.1321 Get rights and content

Abstract

This article describes a large sex difference on a new, group-administered visuospatial task, the Judgment of Line Angle and Position (JLAP) test, and investigates the role of attentional factors in the difference. On the JLAP, adapted from a neuropsychological task (Benton et al., 1983), participants evaluate spatial attributes of lines. Study 1: College males (N = 48) outperformed females (N = 80), resulting in a large effect for sex (d = 0.85). Errors were more common on oblique (vs horizontal or vertical) lines, especially for females. Study 2: Task attributes were manipulated (N = 33 males and 36 females) to study the role of attentional factors. Findings suggest that males are more likely than females to normally attend to and be aided by geometrical reference cues.

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The mathematics and reading achievement of 322 adolescents (159 boys) was assessed in seventh and eighth grades, as were their intelligence, working memory, and spatial abilities. Their seventh- and eighth-grade mathematics and English language arts teachers reported on their in-class attentive behavior. The latter emerged as an important predictor of achievement, but more so for mathematics than for reading. Boy were less attentive in classroom settings than girls (d = −.34) and performed better than expected in mathematics given their level of engagement in the classroom. Boys’ better-than-expected mathematics achievement was related to advantages on visuospatial measures (ds = .28–.56), which fully mediated a sex difference in mathematics (ds = .27–.28) but not in reading achievement, with control of in-class attentive behavior. The results suggest that boys’ advantages in visuospatial skills compensate for lower levels of classroom engagement in the learning of mathematics but not in reading competencies.
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Hypospadias is a common malformation of the male external genitalia that results in urethral displacement with different levels of severity. Male genital development during the fetal period is dependent on androgen function, while the etiology of hypospadias differs and can be multifactorial. The psychosocial outcome is sometimes affected, but according to several studies acceptable. The question of whether hypospadias is associated with differences in psychosexual development has been investigated previously, with mixed results. There are no previous investigations of cognitive abilities in men with hypospadias.
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Citation Excerpt :
Participants match spatial attributes of target lines to 13 comparison lines. This task shows a large sex difference favoring males (Collaer and Nelson, 2002). Water level.
Girls and women with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) experience elevated androgens prenatally and show increased male-typical development for certain behaviors. Further, individuals with CAH receive glucocorticoid (GC) treatment postnatally, and this GC treatment could have negative cognitive consequences. We investigated two alternative hypotheses, that: (a) early androgen exposure in females with CAH masculinizes (improves) spatial perception and quantitative abilities at which males typically outperform females, or (b) CAH is associated with performance decrements in these domains, perhaps due to reduced short-term-memory (STM). Adolescent and adult individuals with CAH (40 female and 29 male) were compared with relative controls (29 female and 30 male) on spatial perception and quantitative abilities as well as on Digit Span (DS) to assess STM and on Vocabulary to assess general intelligence. Females with CAH did not perform better (more male-typical) on spatial perception or quantitative abilities than control females, failing to support the hypothesis of cognitive masculinization. Rather, in the sample as a whole individuals with CAH scored lower on spatial perception (p ≤ .009), a quantitative composite (p ≤ .036), and DS (p ≤ .001), despite no differences in general intelligence. Separate analyses of adolescent and adult participants suggested the spatial and quantitative effects might be present only in adult patients with CAH; however, reduced DS performance was found in patients with CAH regardless of age group. Separate regression analyses showed that DS predicted both spatial perception and quantitative performance (both p ≤ .001), when age, sex, and diagnosis status were controlled. Thus, reduced STM in CAH patients versus controls may have more general cognitive consequences, potentially reducing spatial perception and quantitative skills. Although hyponatremia or other aspects of salt-wasting crises or additional hormone abnormalities cannot be ruled out as potential contributors, elevated GCs appear to be the most likely contributor to reductions in STM. Additional efforts to monitor GC administration protocols may help achieve optimal cognitive outcomes. Educational intervention for individuals with CAH might also be useful.

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^☆

We thank Jenny Walton, Karen Moore, and John Bain for assistance with data collection. We also thank Susan M. Campbell, Diane F. Halpern, and Lynn S. Liben for helpful comments on earlier versions of the article. This study was supported in part by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Grant 71196-504602.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Marcia L. Collaer, Department of Psychology, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753. Fax: 802-443-2072. E-Mail: [email protected].

¹: Present address: Department of Psychology, Fordham University, 441 East Fordham Road, Bronx, NY 10458.

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Regular ArticleLarge Visuospatial Sex Difference in Line Judgment: Possible Role of Attentional Factors☆

Abstract

Evolution and Human Behavior

Personality and Individual Differences

Cortex

Cognitive Psychology

Personality and Individual Differences

Intelligence

The role of experience in spatial test performance: A meta-analysis

Sex Roles

Contributions to neuropsychological assessment: A clinical manual

Visuospatial judgment: A clinical test

Archives of Neurology

Mediators of gender differences in mathematics college entrance test scores: A comparison of spatial skills with internalized beliefs and anxieties

Child Development