Cognitive Sex Differences: Speed and Problem-Solving Strategies on Computerized Neuropsychological Tasks

Perceptual and Motor Skills - Tập 65 Số 3 - Trang 683-697 - 1987
Britt af Klinteberg1, Sten Levander2, Daisy Schalling1
1University of Stockholm, Karolinska Institute
2University of Trondheim.

Tóm tắt

Skill, strategy, and laterality measures obtained through computerized neuropsychological tasks, a reaction time (RT) test, and a visuospatial problem-solving test, the Perceptual Maze Test, were analyzed in relation to sex and handedness of 56 high-school students. Boys were significantly faster than girls on most RT subtasks (including a response-inhibition task) and made more two-choice RT response errors for right-sided stimuli, which may be interpreted as resulting from a less cautious strategy. In maze performance, boys were superior to girls. An analysis of separate phases of the maze-solution process suggested that boys preferentially used an impulsive-global strategy. Girls, using a more reflective-sequential task-solving strategy, were significantly slower, without hitting more targets. Compared to all other groups, left-handed girls (strongly left-handed) had lower performance on maze tasks with no target information, particularly in left-sided solution pathways. Results were interpreted as reflecting differences in hemispheric competence and activation patterns between the sexes. Signs of a less differentiated lateralization and slight dysfunction of visuospatial skills in the left-handed girls were discussed.

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Thông tin xuất bản

Perceptual and Motor Skills

Tập 65 Số 3

683-697

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