Theories of Intelligence and Sex differences in Intelligence: Theories of Intelligence

Sex Differences In Intelligence

How to separate the ladies from the men.........? With Piaget's Water Level Test Task: Look at the glass of water this strange looking alien man is drinking from. Where would you say the top of the water is if the glass is half full? This is Piaget's Water Level test. If you are a man you probably drew the line horizontally across the glass. If you are a woman you probably drew the line parallel to the direction in which the water glass is tipped. The correct line would be a horizontal line. Men tend to be better at this task than women (Halpern, 1995).This illustrates one of the most consistent sex differences in cognitive ability. One explanation for the Water Level Test is that men and boys are better at spatial ability than women. Spatial ability involves using skills in representing, transforming, generating and recalling symbolic, nonlinguistic information.

The effect of Biology on sex differences in intelligence

Biological theories suggest that sex differences in cognitive ability exist because of biological factors such as biological differences in the structure of male/female brains. (Witelson et al, qtd in Buskist et al,2003) found that women had 11 percent more neurons than men in the structure of the brain responsible for language- the planum temporale. Cognitive ability appears to fluctuate across the menstrual cycle and the amount of testosterone appears to correlate with spatial skill (Moffat & Hampson 2004) However on the contrary a study by (Liben et al (2002) qtd in Buskist) showed no relation between hormone level and spatial ability .

The effect of the psychosocial environment on sex differences in Intelligence

Psychosocial Theories suggest that sex differences are learned through experience or imitation. Boys are encouraged to play with toys which involve visuospatial manipulation; girls are not. It has been suggested that boys and girls receive different models, rewards and punishment. Interestingly there seems little difference in the way parents socilaise their children . Martin et al (2001) suggested that peer interaction is more likely to lead to stereotypical sex role behaviour than is parent-child interaction , although this idea is controversial.

Theories of Intelligence and Sex differences in Intelligence