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Gender Differences in Integration of Images in Visuospatial Memory

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Abstract

We examined gender differences in mental integration of images in visuospatial short-term memory. College students were asked to imagine the combined abstract shape that would be formed by integrating two separate shapes briefly shown on a computer screen. The shapes were presented in four conditions: (1) simultaneously at the center of the screen, (2) simultaneously side-by-side, (3) sequentially at the center, and (4) sequentially side-by-side. Men were faster than women in all four conditions, but were significantly more accurate than women only when the two separate shapes were presented simultaneously side-by-side or sequentially at the center of the screen. We suggest that gender differences in basic visuospatial processes such as image integration may help to explain well-established gender differences in more complex spatial tasks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, Indiana

    Carol A. Lawton

  2. University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

    David W. Hatcher

  3. Department of Psychology, Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN, 46805

    Carol A. Lawton

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  1. Carol A. Lawton
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  2. David W. Hatcher
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Correspondence to Carol A. Lawton.

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Lawton, C.A., Hatcher, D.W. Gender Differences in Integration of Images in Visuospatial Memory. Sex Roles 53, 717–725 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-7736-1

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