Motor Development and Cognition

Early motor development

Until age 2 theres no sex differences in reaching, sitting, crawling, walking

• After age 2, tasks that don’t require muscular strength don’t show consistent differences

Strength

Starting in preschool, sex differences on strength emerge

• Ex: grip, throwing

• Gap continues to widen past adulthood

• Development of these skills relate to practicing sports (until puberty)

Atheltic ability

Largest gender differences are related to speed, strength, power

• Men lift 30% more than women in same weight category

• Sports that require technical skill show minimal gender differences

• Gender gaps narrow as opportunities increase for women

Confidence

males show higher confidence in their ability to do physical tasks
• male-typical: d = 0.65 (e.g., football)

• • Neutral: d = 0.5

• girls show higher confidence in female-typical tasks, d = -1.02 (e.g., ballet)

Gendered movement style

• Larger vs. smaller strides, crossing legs at ankle vs. knees

• Adults show consistent sex differences

• Children start to show these in K, and continue to learn these

• Children can imitate movement of the other gender when prompted

Sound pitch

• Males have deeper voices than females

• Children: boys have deeper pitch than girls (but no structural difference

Activity level

Measured in 3 ways

• Direct observation of activity

• Parents’ reporting

• Accelerometer: motion-sensing device

Effect size

• d = 0 —> 50-50 chance

• d = .2 —> 55% chance is taller

• d = .5 —> 65% chance man is taller

• d = 2 —> 90% chance man is taller

Sensation and perception

• Females are slightly better at detecting tones, odors, tastes, and more senstive to touch

• Males have better visual acuity

• Females are better at perceptual speed: shifting attention quickly and fine motor skills

Intelligence

No difference on general intelligence but IQ tests were constructed to eliminate/balance gender difference

• Verbal ability

• Mathematics ability

• Spatial ability

Math ability

• Generally no difference (d = 0.007) in math ability (excludes SAT

scores)

• Stereotype threat persists and can affect performance

Spatial ability

Ability to understand, perceive, and manipulate shapes and figures

Spatial visualization

Finding simple shapes among complex ones

Spatial perception

Locating the vertical or horizontal while ignoring distracting information

Spatial navigation

Reading maps, using landmarks for wayfinding

Mental rotation

Rapidly manipulating 2 or 3 dimensional figures

• Moderate difference (d=0.57) but can be eliminated depending on test description and with training

Memory

Females overall have better memory than men do

• dates/events, verbal memory tasks, better memory strategies, better recognition and recall on tests

Language development

Ages 2-6, girls have better language abilities but by age 6, boys catch up

• Verbal skills: girls seem to do better at reading and writing

Speech and language disorders

• Stuttering: 3-4 times more frequent in boys

• Dyslexia: 2-10 times more frequent in boys

Verbal fluency

Generating words that meet certain criteria or belong to a category

• gender difference close to 0

Language use (words)

men and women use same # of words each day

• Boys more likely to use assertive/critical speech

• Girls more likely to use affiliative speech, offering support and agreeing

Language use (pitch)

Children are aware how males and females speak

• Male: lower pitch

• Female: higher pitch

Achievement motivation

The desire to accomplish something on your own and do it well

• Males/females score similarly

Intrinsic motivation

Performing a task for one’s own satisfaction

• Males/females score similarly

Attitudes about success

Males are more self confident about their ability when:

• giving public reports

• the task is traditionally male

• less influenced by others in sense of self confidence

Attributions

Explanations about the cause of behavior

• Internal attributions: factors within the individual (ability, effort)

• External attributions: forces outside the individual (luck, task difficulty)