And from the ancient archives of Byzantium ...
Posted on 11/27/2008 7:53:13 PM PST by neverdem
Male superiority on mental rotation tasks may develop within a few months after birth
The gender gap in spatial abilities — charted for more than 30 years — emerges within the first few months of life, years earlier than previously thought, psychologists report.
Males typically outperform females on spatial-ability tests by age 4, especially on tasks that require mental rotation of objects perceived as three-dimensional. Yet,
two studies of 3- to 5-month-olds, both published in the November Psychological Science, conclude that a substantially greater proportion of boys than girls distinguish a block arrangement from its mirror image, after having first seen the block arrangement rotated. Babies who prefer looking at the mirror image are presumed to have mentally rotated the block arrangement, recognized it and chosen to gaze at the novel mirror image.
One investigation was conducted by David Moore of Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., and Scott Johnson of the University of California, Los Angeles. The other was directed by Paul Quinn of the University of Delaware in Newark and Lynn Liben of Pennsylvania State University in University Park.
Both sets of researchers suspect that sex differences in mental rotation develop shortly after birth due to an unknown mix of genetic, biological and environmental influences.
“The result we found was really somewhat of a shocker,” Moore says. He had expected to demonstrate no sex difference in infants’ mental rotation skills, laying the groundwork for pinpointing the age at which this spatial gap first appears.
“Simultaneous reports by two different labs using two different techniques are difficult to dismiss,” remarks psychologist Nora Newcombe of Temple University in Philadelphia.
Still, the new reports don’t confirm that baby boys perform mental rotation tasks better than baby girls do, comments psychologist Susan Levine of the University of Chicago...
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
Stay on top of it, now, and don’t go into a slump!
You kiln get me all fired up...
Picture a red apple.
Turn it around 1/2 way, and then turn it upside down.
All that happens in "a mind's eye"
I agree most can do spatial thinking if they are trained to it.
Your post describes my thinking and abilities....and I know what you mean about not daydreaming while driving.
Let me guess, your grade one report card complained about the amount of time you spend daydreaming too, right?
I sensed a slurry of excitement.
Yeah. I let it slip out.
Me, too, must be a food hangover, eyes are glazing over.
Exactly!
Or is it that some of us know women who are engineers and very mathematically minded, who can easily envision a 3D object, and some men who can’t and aren’t. The generalization is the problem. To quote Conan Doyle, “I never make an exception, it disproves the rule.”.
Every time someone comes out with one of these studies I can think of people, male or female, who disprove it. And I’m one of the women who prefer landmarks to mileage. My sis is the opposite.
True, true. But ultra-feminists push the concept that there are NO discernible differences between the native proclivities of males and females. That flies in the face of thousands of years worth of human observation.
Sure, you're going to find some gals who can out-fly most other stunt pilots. I've seen videos of one such gal, and she is simply amazing. But --- she's got above average spatial co-ordination for a woman.
Same can be said for some men, who display above average skill in areas where women normally hold the edge, such as negotiation, or organization.
Every time someone comes out with one of these studies I can think of people, male or female, who disprove it.
Sure you can. The study in question only proved what's average behavior and skill among boys, as opposed to girls. It wasn't seeking to identify exceptional people.
And from the ancient archives of Byzantium ...
Your graphic is lacking in female sex drive. Where is it? Or are those married brains?
I don’t find them exceptional. I think there is a lack of overall experience with humans of all sorts with these lab results. Why don’t they try real life experience? Every man is not a spatial talent. I’m sorry. I have seen too much to think that.
I don't think the studies are trying to make that point. They aren't saying that every man is superior to every woman when it comes to spatial abilities; only that men (as a whole) tend to be better at spatial tasks than women (as a whole).
Suppose I made the statement, "thin people are usually faster than obese people." I'm not saying that every thin person is fast, or that every obese person is slow. And pointing out examples of skinny slowpokes or speedy fat guys wouldn't disprove my statement.
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