Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Gender and Regional Differences in Spatial Referents Used in Direction Giving

  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examined gender and regional differences in spatial referents used in giving route directions. In response to an Internet survey, participants (primarily white and highly educated) provided samples of route directions to a target destination in their home area. Only directions from those living in the United States were analyzed. Women referred more often than men to buildings as landmarks, whereas men referred more often than women to cardinal directions. Both women and men referred more often to cardinal directions if they reported that they lived in the Midwest/West than in the Northeast/South, or if they lived in areas where the roads were arranged in a gridlike pattern. The findings suggest that women and men differ in the type of spatial referents they use in giving directions, but that direction giving in both genders is affected by the environment in which they live.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Astur, R. S., Ortiz, M. L., & Sutherland, R. J. (1998). A characterization of performance by men and women in a virtual Morris water task: A large and reliable sex difference. Behavioural Brain Research, 93, 185–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baenninger, M. (1997). Sex-related differences in the development of spatial ability: The efficacy of training. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Washington, DC.

  • Baenninger, M., & Newcombe, N. (1989). The role of experience in spatial test performance: A meta-analysis. Sex Roles, 20, 327–344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, M. A., Vitaglione, G. D., Harper, K. K. G., Quackenbush, S. W., Steadman, L. A., & Valdez, B. S. (1997). Late adolescents' experiences with and attitudes toward videogames. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27, 1316–1334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, L.N., Lahar, C. J., & Mosley, J. L. (1998). Age and gender-related differences in strategy use for route information: A map-present direction-giving paradigm. Environment and Behavior, 30, 123–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, T., & Smith, J. L. (1999). Using the Internet for psychological research: Personality testing on the World Wide Web. British Journal of Psychology, 99, 124–144.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burns, P. C. (1998). Wayfinding errors while driving. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 18, 209–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, J. (2001). Map use & analysis (4th ed.). Boston, MA: WCB/McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dabbs, J. M., Chang, E.-L., Strong, R. A., & Milun, R. (1998). Spatial ability, navigation strategy, and geographic knowledge among men and women. Evolution and Human Behavior, 19, 89–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Lisi, R., & Cammarano, D. M. (1996). Computer experience and gender differences in undergraduate mental rotation performance. Computers in Human Behavior, 12, 351–361.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denis, M. (1997). The description of routes: A cognitive approach to the production of spatial discourse. Cahiers de Psychologie Cognitive/Current Psychology of Cognition, 16, 409–458.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denis, M., Pazzaglia, F., Cornoldi, C., & Bertolo, L. (1999). Spatial discourse and navigation: An analysis of route directions in the city of Venice. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 13, 145–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorval, M., & Pépin, M. (1986). Effect of playing a video game on a measure of spatial visualization. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 62, 159–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eals, M., & Silverman, I. (1994). The hunter-gatherer theory of spatial sex differences: Proximate factors mediating the female advantage in recall of object arrays. Ethology and Sociobiology, 15, 95–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, G.W. (1980). Environmental cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 259–287.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galea, L. A. M., & Kimura, D. (1993). Sex differences in route-learning. Personality and Individual Differences, 14, 53–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gärling, T., Lindberg, E., Carreiras, M., & Bö ök, A. (1986). Reference systems in cognitive maps. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 6, 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golledge, R. G. (1987). Environmental cognition. In D. Stokols & I. Altman (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (pp. 131–174). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golledge, R. G., Dougherty, V., & Bell, S. (1995). Acquiring spatial knowledge: Survey versus route-based knowledge in unfamiliar environments. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 85, 134–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Golledge, R. G., Ruggles, A. J., Pellegrino, J. W., & Gale, N. D. (1993). Integrating route knowledge in an unfamiliar neighborhood: Along and across route experiments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 13, 293–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, P. M., Brannon, C., & Lohr, D. (1994). Two-dimensional representation of movement through three-dimensional space: The role of video game expertise. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15, 87–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, P. M., Camaioni, L., Ercolani, P., Weiss, L., Lauber, B. A., & Perrucchini, P. (1994). Cognitive socialization by computer games in two cultures: Inductive discovery or mastery of an iconic code? Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15, 59–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gron, G., Wunderlich, A. P., Spitzer, M., Tomczak, R., & Riepe, M.W. (2000). Brain activation during human navigation: Gender-different neural networks as substrate of performance. Nature Neuroscience, 3, 404–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halpern, D. F. (2000). Sex differences in cognitive abilities (3rd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrell, W. A., Bowlby, J.W., & Hall-Hoffarth, D. (2000). Directing wayfinders with maps: The effects of gender, age, route complexity, and familiarity with the environment. The Journal of Social Psychology, 140, 169–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, R. (1978). Children's experience of place. New York: Irvington Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, R. A., & Moore, G. T. (1973). The development of spatial cognition: A review. In R. M. Downs & D. Stea (Eds.), Image and environment (pp. 246–288). Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holding, C. S. (1992). Clusters and reference points in cognitive representations of the environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 12, 45–55.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holding, C. S., & Holding, D. H. (1989). Acquistion of route network knowledge by males and females. The Journal of General Psychology, 116, 29–41.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, E. B., Pellegrino, J. W., Frick, R. W., Farr, S. A., & Alderton, D. L. (1988). The ability to reason about movement in the visual field. Intelligence, 12, 77–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, T. W., & Kimura, D. (1997). Sex differences in remembering the locations of objects in an array: Location-shifts versus location-exchanges. Evolution and Human Behavior, 18, 155–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krantz, J. H., Ballard, J., & Scher, J. (1997). Comparing the results of laboratory and worldwide web sample on the determinants of female attractiveness. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 29, 264–269.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, D. J., Pellegrino, J.W., & Hunt, E. B. (1993). Comparing the tortoise and the hare: Gender differences and experience in dynamic spatial reasoning tasks. Psychological Science, 4, 35–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawton, C. A. (1994). Gender differences in way-finding strategies: Relationship to spatial ability and spatial anxiety. Sex Roles, 30, 765–779.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawton, C. A. (1996). Strategies for indoor wayfinding: The role of orientation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 16, 137–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawton, C. A., Charleston, S. I., & Zieles, A. S. (1996). Individual-and gender-related differences in indoor wayfinding. Environment and Behavior, 28, 204–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawton, C. A., & Morrin, K. A. (1999). Gender differences in pointing accuracy in computersimulated 3D mazes. Sex Roles, 40, 73–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levinson, S. C. (1996). Frames of reference and Molyneux's question: Crosslinguistic evidence. In P. Bloom, M. A. Peterson, L. Nadel, & M. F. Garret (Eds.), Language and space (pp. 110–169). Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linn, M. C., & Petersen, A. C. (1985). Emergence and characterization of sex differences in spatial ability: A meta-analysis. Child Development, 56, 1479–1498.

    Google Scholar 

  • Linn, M. C., & Petersen, A. C. (1986). A meta-analysis of gender differences in spatial ability: Implications for mathematics and science achievement. In J. S. Hyde & M. C. Linn (Eds.), The psychology of gender: Advances through meta-analysis (pp. 67–101). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, M.H. (1986a). Gender, graphicacy and geography. Educational Review, 38, 259–271.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, M. H. (1986b). The influence of gender on the environmental cognition of young boys and girls. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 147, 295–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • McBurney, D. H., Gaulin, S. J. C., Devineni, T., & Adams, C. (1997). Superior spatial memory of women: Stronger evidence for the gathering hypothesis. Evolution and Human Behavior, 18, 165–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • McClurg, P. A., & Chaillé, C. (1987). Computer games: Environments for developing spatial cognition? Journal of Educational Computing Research, 3, 95–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGuinness, D., & Sparks, J. (1983). Cognitive style and cognitive maps: Sex differences in representations of a familiar terrain. Journal of Mental Imagery, 7, 91–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, L. K., & Santoni, V. (1986). Sex differences in spatial abilities: Strategic and experiential correlates. Acta Psychologica, 62, 225–235.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montello, D. R., Lovelace, K. L., Golledge, R. G., & Self, C. M. (1999). Sex-related differences and similarities in geographic and environmental spatial abilities. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 89, 515–534.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montello, D. R., & Pick, H. L. (1993). Integrating knowledge of vertically aligned large-scale spaces. Environment and Behavior, 25, 457–484.

    Google Scholar 

  • Okagaki, L., & French, P. A. (1994). Effects of video game playing on measures of spatial performance: Gender effects in late adolescence. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15, 33–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Laughlin, E. M., & Brubaker, B. S. (1998). Use of landmarks in cognitive mapping: Gender differences in self report versus performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 24, 595–601.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, C. A., Rolls, S., Rouse, A., & Griffiths, M. D. (1995). Home video game playing in schoolchildren: A study of incidence and patterns of play. Journal of Adolescence, 18, 687–691.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, J. A., & Ward, L. M. (1982). Environmental psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 33, 651–688.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadalla, E. K., & Montello, D. R. (1989). Remembering changes in direction. Environment and Behavior, 21, 346–363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandstorm, N. J., Kaufman, S. A., & Huettel, S. A. (1998). Males and females use different distal cues in virtual environment navigation task. Cognitive Brain Research, 6, 351–360.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiff, W., & Oldak, R. (1990). Accuracy of judging time to arrival: Effects of modality, trajectory, and gender. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 16, 303–316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmitz, S. (1997). Gender-related strategies in environmental development: Effects of anxiety on wayfinding in and representation of a three-dimensionalmaze. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 17, 215–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Self, C. M., Gopal, S., Golledge, R. G., & Fenstermaker, S. (1992). Gender-related differences in spatial abilities. Progress in Human Geography, 16, 315–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, A.W., & White, S. H. (1975). The development of spatial representations of large-scale environments. In H.W. Reese (Ed.), Advances in child development (Vol. 10). New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, I., & Eals, M. (1992). Sex differences in spatial abilities: Evolutionary theory and data. In J. Barkow, L. Cosmides, & J. Tooby (Eds.), The adapted mind: Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture (pp. 487–503). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M. A., & Leigh, B. (1997). Virtual subjects: Using the internet as an alternative source of subjects and research environment. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 29, 496–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Subrahmanyam, K., & Greenfield, P. M. (1994). Effect of video game practice on spatial skills in girls and boys. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15, 13–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, H. A., & Tversky, B. (1996). Perspective in spatial descriptions. Journal of Memory and Language, 35, 371–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tversky, B. (1996). Spatial perspective in descriptions. In P. Bloom, M. A. Peterson, L. Nadel, & M. F. Garrett (Eds.), Language and space (pp. 463–491). Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward, S. L., Newcombe, N., & Overton, W. F. (1986). Turn left at the church, or three miles north. Environment and Behavior, 18, 192–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webley, P. (1981). Sex differences in home range and cognitive maps in eight-year old children. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 1, 293–302.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webley, P., & Whalley, A. (1987). Sex differences in children's environmental cognition. Journal of Social Psychology, 127, 223–225.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana–Purdue University Fort Wayne, Indiana;

    Carol A. Lawton

Authors
  1. Carol A. Lawton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carol A. Lawton.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lawton, C.A. Gender and Regional Differences in Spatial Referents Used in Direction Giving. Sex Roles 44, 321–337 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010981616842

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010981616842

Keywords

Search

Navigation