Różnice między kobietami i mężczyznami w zdolnościach przestrzennych

Abstrakt

Summary Differences between women and men in spatial ability are considered the most consistent gender differences in cognitive abilities. With traditional paper- and-pencil tests of spatial ability men performed significantly better on mental rotation tasks. However, inconsistent gender differences have been obtained on measures related to spatial orientation in the real world. It seems that men and women apply different strategies to find their way, e.g. women more likely rely on the knowledge whether to turn right or left at specified landmarks, whereas men orient themselves according to global reference points, such as the cardinal directions (North, South, East, and West) or the position of the sun in the sky. Some research programs try to identify the characteristics of those women who represent the exception to the male advantage found with the mental rotation test. It seems that math/science experience may contribute to the development of spatial ability in females. Also, there is increasing evidence suggesting that environmental factors play a role in shaping gender differences in spatial performance. For instance, males have more extensive experience with activities that help develop spatial skills (video games, spatial sport preferences) and boys have greater freedom than girls to explore their environments. Further research is necessary to delineate the conditions under which training of orientation tasks produces benefits for the performance of women.