Dissertation
Visual-spatial skills: A biopsychosocial approach to performance differences
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
08/2008
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000005810
Abstract
Performance differences between men and women on measures of visual-spatial skills are well-documented and have resulted in an extensive literature on types of visual-spatial skills, variations in the observed effect sizes, and methods to moderate the effects. Of particular note, a large and consistent sex differences effect is observed for one particular visual-spatial test, the Vandenberg and Kuse (1978) Mental Rotations Test, where men obtain higher scores than women. For decades the particular source of this effect has been examined with an argument that spans the history of psychological research: Is it nature or nurture? To evaluate this effect from a more integrative perspective, this study manipulated the environmental demands and attempted to control for variations in sex-related biological state (menstrual phase). Results indicate that of six visual-spatial measures spanning three types of tasks, four demonstrated expected sex differences, and one of these tasks (MRT) was negatively affected specifically by inducing stereotype threat in male participants. Unexpectedly, women were not affected by the negative stereotype threat (i.e., explicit instruction of the stereotype), but may have been affected by social experience (female-examiner for female-participant) instead.
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Details
- Title
- Visual-spatial skills
- Creators
- Jill B. Fancher
- Contributors
- Elizabeth Soliday (Chair)Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Department of PsychologyHeidi Hamann (Committee Member)Lisa Fournier (Committee Member) - Washington State University, Department of Psychology
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Department of Psychology
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 65
- Identifiers
- 99901055035301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation