Abstract
Twenty males and 20 females solved family relationship problems of the type “what relation is she to her mother’s father’s brother?” Ten subjects of each sex were read the problems, and 10 of each sex had them presented visually. Females manifested shorter solution times in both presentation conditions but only significantly so in the auditory condition. Subjects reported using a mental image of a family tree more often in the auditory condition than in the visual condition; there were no sex differences in the use of such a strategy. Various possible explanations for these findings are advanced and discussed within the context of the development of problem solving strategies. It is concluded that females probably have an advantage with these particular problems.
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The author thanks Mr. K. Beswick for his help in running the subjects and Dr. S. E. Newstead and Dr. R. H. Ranvard for their comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Lee R. Brooks sponsors this paper and takes full editorial responsibility for its content.
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Birkett, P. Sex differences and reasoning vs. imagery strategies in the solution of visually and auditorily presented family relationship problems. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 8, 139–142 (1976). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335106
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03335106