Women Match Men when Learning a Spatial Skill

Autor/inn/en	Spence, Ian; Yu, Jingjie Jessica; Feng, Jing; Marshman, Jeff
Titel	Women Match Men when Learning a Spatial Skill
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 35 (2009) 4, S.1097-1103 (7 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0278-7393
DOI	10.1037/a0015641
Schlagwörter	Video Games; Females; Attention; Spatial Ability; Teaching Methods; Basic Skills; Meta Analysis; Cognitive Ability; Gender Differences; College Students; Cognitive Development; Foreign Countries; Canada + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Video game; Videospiel; Videospiele; Weibliches Geschlecht; Aufmerksamkeit; Räumliches Vorstellungsvermögen; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Basic skill; Grundfertigkeit; Meta-analysis; Metaanalyse; Denkfähigkeit; Geschlechterkonflikt; Collegestudent; Kognitive Entwicklung; Ausland; Kanada
Abstract	Meta-analytic studies have concluded that although training improves spatial cognition in both sexes, the male advantage generally persists. However, because some studies run counter to this pattern, a closer examination of the anomaly is warranted. The authors investigated the acquisition of a basic skill (spatial selective attention) using a matched-pair two-wave longitudinal design. Participants were screened with the use of an attentional visual field task, with the objective of selecting and matching 10 male-female pairs, over a wide range (30% to 57% correct). Subsequently, 20 participants 17-23 years of age (selected from 43 screened) were trained for 10 hr (distributed over several sessions) by playing a first-person shooter video game. This genre is known to be highly effective in enhancing spatial skills. All 20 participants improved, with matched members of the male-female pairs achieving very similar gains, independent of starting level. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the learning trajectory of women is not inferior to that of men when acquiring a basic spatial skill. Training methods that develop basic spatial skills may be essential to achieve gender parity in both basic and complex spatial tasks. (Contains 3 figures and 1 footnote.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10