Skip to main content

Gender Differences in Memory and Cognition

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Geropsychology

Synonyms

Ageing and retirement in Europe (SHARE); Cohort effects; Gender differences; Longitudinal assessment; Mathematics; Memory: episodic; Verbal ability; Visuospatial ability

Age and gender are variables that have been found to influence cognitive performance. In the following entry, findings of gender differences in cognitive functions will be reviewed, with a specific focus on examining to what extent the pattern and magnitude of these differences change over the adult life span. First, results on gender differences found in memory and cognition tasks in childhood and young adulthood are presented. This is followed by a discussion of the extent to which these differences change over the life span and/or over geographical regions. Lastly, somewhat contradictory findings reported in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies will be highlighted.

In this review, the following main conclusions are drawn: There is little evidence to suggest that the rate of decline in cognitive...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • De Frias, C. M., Nilsson, L.-G., & Herlitz, A. (2006). Sex differences in cognition are stable over a 10-year period in adulthood and old age. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 13, 574–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Else-Quest, N. M., & Grabe, S. (2012). The political is personal measurement and application of nation-level indicators of gender equity in psychological research. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 36, 131–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira, D., Rivero-Santana, A., Perestelo-Pérez, L., Westman, E., Wahlund, L.-O., Sarría, A, et al. (2014). Improving CSF biomarkers’ performance for predicting progression from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Alzheimer’s disease by considering different confounding factors: A meta-analysis. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. 6, Published online ahead of print. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2014.00287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flynn, J. R. (1987). Massive IQ, gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really measure. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 171–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerstorf, D., Herlitz, A., & Smith, J. (2006). Stability of sex differences in cognition in advanced old age: The role of education and attrition. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 61, 245–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herlitz, A., & Rehnman, J. (2008). Sex differences in episodic memory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17, 52–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herlitz, A., Reuterskiöld, L., Lovén, J., Thilers, P. P., & Rehnman, J. (2013). Cognitive sex differences are not magnified as a function of age, sex hormones, or puberty development during early adolescence. Developmental Neuropsychology, 38, 167–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyde, J. S., & Linn, M. C. (1988). Gender differences in verbal ability: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 53–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyde, J. S., Fennema, E., & Lamon, S. J. (1990). Gender differences in mathematics performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 139–155.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levine, S. C., Huttenlocher, J., Taylor, A., & Langrock, A. (1999). Early sex differences in spatial skill. Developmental Psychology, 35, 940–949.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, P. A., Mayfield, J. W., & Reynolds, C. R. (2003). Gender differences in memory test performance among children and adolescents. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 18, 865–878.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. (1974). The psychology of sex differences. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maylor, E. A., Reimers, S., Choi, J., Collaer, M. L., Peters, M., & Silverman, I. (2007). Gender and sexual orientation differences in cognition across adulthood: Age is kinder to women than to men regardless of sexual orientation. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36, 235–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, D. S., & Johnson, S. P. (2008). Mental rotation in human infants a sex difference. Psychological Science, 19, 1063–1066.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, P. C., & Liben, L. S. (2008). A sex difference in mental rotation in young infants. Psychological Science, 19, 1067–1070.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raz, N., Gunning-Dixon, F., Head, D., Rodrigue, K. M., Williamson, A., & Acker, J. D. (2004). Aging, sexual dimorphism, and hemispheric asymmetry of the cerebral cortex: Replicability of regional differences in volume. Neurobiology of Aging, 25, 377–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundet, J. M., Borren, I., & Tambs, K. (2008). The Flynn effect is partly caused by changing fertility patterns. Intelligence, 36, 183–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voyer, D., & Voyer, S. D. (2014). Gender differences in scholastic achievement: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 1174–1204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voyer, D., Voyer, S., & Bryden, M. P. (1995). Magnitude of sex differences in spatial abilities: A meta-analysis and consideration of critical variables. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 250–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, D., Skirbekk, V., Freund, I., & Herlitz, A. (2014). The changing face of cognitive gender differences in Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, 11673–11678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Agneta Herlitz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

About this entry

Cite this entry

Herlitz, A., Dekhtyar, S., Asperholm, M., Weber, D. (2016). Gender Differences in Memory and Cognition. In: Pachana, N. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_225-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_225-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-287-080-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics