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Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities
In the third edition of her popular text, Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities, Diane Halpern tackles fundamental questions about the meaning of sex differences in cognition and why people are so afraid of the differences. She provides a comprehensive context for understanding the theories and research on this controversial topic. The author employs the psychobiosocial model of cognition to negotiate a cease fire on the nature-nurture wars and offers a more holistic and integrative conceptualization of the forces that make people unique.
This new edition reflects the explosion of theories and research in the area over the past several years. New techniques for peering into the human brain have changed the nature of the questions being asked and the kinds of answers that can be expected. There have been surprising new findings on the influence of sex hormones on cognitive abilities across the life span, as well as an increasing number of studies examining how attention paid to category variables such as one's sex, race, or age affects unconscious and automatic cognitive processes.
Written in a clear, engaging style, this new edition takes a refreshing look at the science and politics of cognitive sex differences. Although it is a comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of scientific theory and research into how, why, when, and to what extent females and males differ in intellectual abilities, it conveys complex ideas and interrelationships among variables in an engrossing and understandable manner, bridging the gap between sensationalized 'pop' literature and highly technical scientific journals. Halpern's thought-provoking perspectives on this controversial topic will be of interest to students and professionals alike.
[features used for book mailer]
*Includes new information about sex differences and similarities in the brain, the role of sex hormones on cognition (including exciting new work on hormone replacement therapy during menopause), new perspectives from evolutionary psychology, the way stereotypes and other group-based expectations unconsciously and automatically influence thought, the influence of pervasive sex-differentiated child rearing and other sex role effects, and understanding how research is conducted and interpreted.
*Takes a cognitive process approach that examines similarities and differences in visuospatial working memory, verbal working memory, long-term acquisition and retrieval, sensation and perception, and other stages in information processing.
*Provides a developmental analysis of sex differences and similarities in cognition extending from the early prenatal phase into very old age.
*Tackles both political and scientific issues and explains how they influence each other--readers are warned that science is not value-free.
*Uses cross-cultural data and warns readers about the limitations on conclusions that have not been assessed in multiple cultures.
*Includes many new figures and tables that summarize complex issues and provide section reviews.
It is a beautifully written book by a master teacher who really cares about presenting a clear and honest picture of contemporary psychology's most politicized topic.
This new edition reflects the explosion of theories and research in the area over the past several years. New techniques for peering into the human brain have changed the nature of the questions being asked and the kinds of answers that can be expected. There have been surprising new findings on the influence of sex hormones on cognitive abilities across the life span, as well as an increasing number of studies examining how attention paid to category variables such as one's sex, race, or age affects unconscious and automatic cognitive processes.
Written in a clear, engaging style, this new edition takes a refreshing look at the science and politics of cognitive sex differences. Although it is a comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of scientific theory and research into how, why, when, and to what extent females and males differ in intellectual abilities, it conveys complex ideas and interrelationships among variables in an engrossing and understandable manner, bridging the gap between sensationalized 'pop' literature and highly technical scientific journals. Halpern's thought-provoking perspectives on this controversial topic will be of interest to students and professionals alike.
[features used for book mailer]
*Includes new information about sex differences and similarities in the brain, the role of sex hormones on cognition (including exciting new work on hormone replacement therapy during menopause), new perspectives from evolutionary psychology, the way stereotypes and other group-based expectations unconsciously and automatically influence thought, the influence of pervasive sex-differentiated child rearing and other sex role effects, and understanding how research is conducted and interpreted.
*Takes a cognitive process approach that examines similarities and differences in visuospatial working memory, verbal working memory, long-term acquisition and retrieval, sensation and perception, and other stages in information processing.
*Provides a developmental analysis of sex differences and similarities in cognition extending from the early prenatal phase into very old age.
*Tackles both political and scientific issues and explains how they influence each other--readers are warned that science is not value-free.
*Uses cross-cultural data and warns readers about the limitations on conclusions that have not been assessed in multiple cultures.
*Includes many new figures and tables that summarize complex issues and provide section reviews.
It is a beautifully written book by a master teacher who really cares about presenting a clear and honest picture of contemporary psychology's most politicized topic.
438 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
1 person is currently reading
204 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 25, 2020
A comprehensive review of the literature pertaining to differences in cognition between males and females.
The book is close to 400 pages, so buckle up for a long, monotonous and kind of drab journey. Its technical and rather extensive coverage of the current literature is laudable, but also hard to push through for a lay person, especially one with no background in statistics.
In case you managed to finish the book, you will agree that it definitely deserves a 4 star rating.
Here is the summary of the important points:
1- Females on average do better than males in language, reading and writing skills. Girls consistently score higher on those tests compared to boys. Most kids with reading and writing disabilities are males.
2- Boys do better on some visuospatial tasks like mental rotation of shapes. Skills needed in engineering, math and science in general. However, when girls play video games engage in activities that improve visuospatial activities, the gap tends to narrow but never close.
3- Girls are more self disciplined in school. Girls score higher throughout school years on most study subjects.
4- Average IQ scores of both genders is the same, However, there are more males with exceptionally high and exceptionally low scores. Males have more geniuses and more retards.
5- Men score higher on graduate level math tests, like the SAT-M. Among the group of people with exceptionally high SAT-M scores, males outnumber females with 3:1.
6- There are differences in career options between males and females. Females tend to choose careers where there is interaction with people, like teacher, social worker....etc. Men prefer careers where they have to deal with "things" like engineering, computer sciences, technology...etc
7- Stereotypes affect the performance of students on standardized tests. In one experiment, females were subtly reminded that they are not good in math just before a math test, which significantly lowered their performance.
7- Women are equally represented in all fields except STEM(science, technology, engineering, math) and the reason for that could be multi factorial. Men scoring higher on standardized math tests like SAT-M which serves as admission test to college in the US is one of the reasons. Preference; maybe women are not interested in those fields which demand long hours of working and research and are not compatible with a healthy and normal family life. Stereotypes; STEM fields are male dominant and maybe this stereotype discourages women from entering those fields.
8- Nature vs nurture debate is a false dichotomy. Conservatives will tend to stress the nature end of the spectrum and hence push forward "biology politics" where everything is determined by nature and inevitable. Liberal leftists will claim that it is all in the "sexist culture" and push forward politically correct agenda where everything is malleable and differences could be "wiped out" by introducing changes to the environment and culture. In reality, the interaction between nature and nurture is much more dynamic and complicated and they can constantly modify each other.
9- There is huge overlap in the cognitive abilities of males and females. We are much much more similar than different. "Men are from Mars and females are from Venus" is highly unjustifiable conclusion scientifically. Even when some differences are found, those differences are "average" differences, it tells you nothing about individuals.
10- Boys on average are more aggressive and assertive. Girls are more agreeable and extrovert. Those findings are cross culture and contrary to the "social constructionists" predictions, in the more egalitarian and less biased Western European countries personality differences are more accentuated.
11- Even from very young age, boys tend to prefer toys like trucks and cars and engage in rough and tumble play. Girls tend to prefer faces and dolls and when they grow up women are much better in recognizing faces and facial expressions.
12- Those few differences between genders do not justify segregating schools based on sex.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My final comments:
There is a trend on the politically correct side of the political spectrum to make everything about the "fairness of outcome". This pathological obsession with increasing the representation of women in the STEM fields, the feminist obsession with obliterating all differences between sexes, the preposterous claim that gender has nothing to do with chromosomes and you can be whatever you decide to be...etc. This trend is very fashionable and very dangerous at the same time.
Fairness is equality in education and opportunities. It used to be "let the best man\woman win". Nowadays it is "hmm... women and African Americans score lower on SAT-M, it must be that the test is sexist and racist". The solution is not an affirmative action that gives women and minorities a bonus on the SAT-M, the solution is eliminating prejudices and damping down the effect of stereotypes... etc. In other words, improving the PRETEST conditions and not tampering with POST test outcomes.
Baby boys wear blue, baby girls wear pink. It is just a cute cultural preference and you do not have to buy gender neutral clothes for your babies to prove a point. We know DNA does not have instructions for a dress code. Men open doors for ladies, it is just a gentlemanly and nice gesture not a sexist one you damn feminists.
Vast majority of plumbers, firemen, bus drivers, electricians, construction workers, soldiers, sanitary workers... etc are men. I am curious why feminists do not make sure of equal representation of both sexes in those occupations!
There are very few differences between men and women and we should cherish the differences, not obliterate them. Equality is not sameness.
The book is close to 400 pages, so buckle up for a long, monotonous and kind of drab journey. Its technical and rather extensive coverage of the current literature is laudable, but also hard to push through for a lay person, especially one with no background in statistics.
In case you managed to finish the book, you will agree that it definitely deserves a 4 star rating.
Here is the summary of the important points:
1- Females on average do better than males in language, reading and writing skills. Girls consistently score higher on those tests compared to boys. Most kids with reading and writing disabilities are males.
2- Boys do better on some visuospatial tasks like mental rotation of shapes. Skills needed in engineering, math and science in general. However, when girls play video games engage in activities that improve visuospatial activities, the gap tends to narrow but never close.
3- Girls are more self disciplined in school. Girls score higher throughout school years on most study subjects.
4- Average IQ scores of both genders is the same, However, there are more males with exceptionally high and exceptionally low scores. Males have more geniuses and more retards.
5- Men score higher on graduate level math tests, like the SAT-M. Among the group of people with exceptionally high SAT-M scores, males outnumber females with 3:1.
6- There are differences in career options between males and females. Females tend to choose careers where there is interaction with people, like teacher, social worker....etc. Men prefer careers where they have to deal with "things" like engineering, computer sciences, technology...etc
7- Stereotypes affect the performance of students on standardized tests. In one experiment, females were subtly reminded that they are not good in math just before a math test, which significantly lowered their performance.
7- Women are equally represented in all fields except STEM(science, technology, engineering, math) and the reason for that could be multi factorial. Men scoring higher on standardized math tests like SAT-M which serves as admission test to college in the US is one of the reasons. Preference; maybe women are not interested in those fields which demand long hours of working and research and are not compatible with a healthy and normal family life. Stereotypes; STEM fields are male dominant and maybe this stereotype discourages women from entering those fields.
8- Nature vs nurture debate is a false dichotomy. Conservatives will tend to stress the nature end of the spectrum and hence push forward "biology politics" where everything is determined by nature and inevitable. Liberal leftists will claim that it is all in the "sexist culture" and push forward politically correct agenda where everything is malleable and differences could be "wiped out" by introducing changes to the environment and culture. In reality, the interaction between nature and nurture is much more dynamic and complicated and they can constantly modify each other.
9- There is huge overlap in the cognitive abilities of males and females. We are much much more similar than different. "Men are from Mars and females are from Venus" is highly unjustifiable conclusion scientifically. Even when some differences are found, those differences are "average" differences, it tells you nothing about individuals.
10- Boys on average are more aggressive and assertive. Girls are more agreeable and extrovert. Those findings are cross culture and contrary to the "social constructionists" predictions, in the more egalitarian and less biased Western European countries personality differences are more accentuated.
11- Even from very young age, boys tend to prefer toys like trucks and cars and engage in rough and tumble play. Girls tend to prefer faces and dolls and when they grow up women are much better in recognizing faces and facial expressions.
12- Those few differences between genders do not justify segregating schools based on sex.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My final comments:
There is a trend on the politically correct side of the political spectrum to make everything about the "fairness of outcome". This pathological obsession with increasing the representation of women in the STEM fields, the feminist obsession with obliterating all differences between sexes, the preposterous claim that gender has nothing to do with chromosomes and you can be whatever you decide to be...etc. This trend is very fashionable and very dangerous at the same time.
Fairness is equality in education and opportunities. It used to be "let the best man\woman win". Nowadays it is "hmm... women and African Americans score lower on SAT-M, it must be that the test is sexist and racist". The solution is not an affirmative action that gives women and minorities a bonus on the SAT-M, the solution is eliminating prejudices and damping down the effect of stereotypes... etc. In other words, improving the PRETEST conditions and not tampering with POST test outcomes.
Baby boys wear blue, baby girls wear pink. It is just a cute cultural preference and you do not have to buy gender neutral clothes for your babies to prove a point. We know DNA does not have instructions for a dress code. Men open doors for ladies, it is just a gentlemanly and nice gesture not a sexist one you damn feminists.
Vast majority of plumbers, firemen, bus drivers, electricians, construction workers, soldiers, sanitary workers... etc are men. I am curious why feminists do not make sure of equal representation of both sexes in those occupations!
There are very few differences between men and women and we should cherish the differences, not obliterate them. Equality is not sameness.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2024
Referencia ineludible para combatir el constructivismo radical posmoderno. Es un survey amplísimo; cumple, eso sí, como toda etapa empírica de la falsación científica, una vida útil.
El marco teórico es quizás el punto débil. Indefinición sobre la intersección sociedad-biologia.
Halpern insiste, repite, dice que la variabilidad opera siempre en la sutileza estadística. O sea, esta se pronuncia en los extremos. Pero aquí deberíamos aportar, como observadores teóricos, que es entonces que el influjo de la "superestructura" (cultural) se hace notar: cuando se define un Otro (sustentado por asimetrías de base), el matiz de la diferencia cobra carácter de Identidad y la retroalimentación de la psicología hace de la pequeña divergencia un patrón.
El marco teórico es quizás el punto débil. Indefinición sobre la intersección sociedad-biologia.
Halpern insiste, repite, dice que la variabilidad opera siempre en la sutileza estadística. O sea, esta se pronuncia en los extremos. Pero aquí deberíamos aportar, como observadores teóricos, que es entonces que el influjo de la "superestructura" (cultural) se hace notar: cuando se define un Otro (sustentado por asimetrías de base), el matiz de la diferencia cobra carácter de Identidad y la retroalimentación de la psicología hace de la pequeña divergencia un patrón.
September 3, 2024
A "COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS" OF THE STUDIES
Diane F. Halpern is an American psychologist and past-president of the American Psychological Association (APA); she is currently Professor of Psychology at Claremont McKenna College. She has written other books such as 'Thought & Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking,' 'Women at the Top: Powerful Leaders Tell Us How to Combine Work and Family,' 'Undergraduate Education in Psychology: A Blueprint for the Future of the Discipline,' etc.
She wrote in the Preface to Volume 1, "It seemed like a simple task when I started writing this book. All I had to do was provide a comprehensive synthesis of the theories and research concerning the causes, correlates, and consequences of cognitive sex differences and make some meaningful conclusions that were supported in the literature... At the time, it seemed clear to me that any between-sex differences in thinking abilities were due to socialization practices... and bias and prejudice. After reviewing a pile of journal articles that stood several feet high and numerous books and book chapters that dwarfed the stack of journal articles, I changed my mind.
"The task I had undertaken certainly wasn't simple and the conclusions that I had expected to make had to be revised... clear and consistent messages could be heard. There are real, and in some cases sizable, sex differences with respect to some cognitive abilities... there is also good evidence that biological sex differences play a role in establishing and maintaining cognitive sex differences, a conclusion that I wasn't prepared to make when I began reviewing the relevant literature." (Pg. xvii) Later, she adds, "The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive review and synthesis of the research and theories that pertain to the questions of cognitive sex differences." (Pg. 32)
She argues, "Sex differences research is not inherently sexist---it is the only way that we can empirically determine if common beliefs and stereotypes about males and females have any basis in fact. The only alternative to knowledge is ignorance. And ignorance does not counter stereotypes or dispel myths... It is the only way that we can reject false stereotypes and understand legitimate differences." (Pg. 8)
She points out, "Researchers ... often conduct their research with other animal species. The major difficulty is generalizing from rats or monkeys to humans. We know that hormones, for example, play a greater role in the behavior of nonhuman species than they do in humans, whereas cognitive and social variables are more important in determining human behavior." (Pg. 55)
She states, "Female superiority on verbal tasks may seem reminiscent of the stereotype that females talk more than males, but it is important to keep in mind that it is the quality of speech produced and the ability to comprehend or decode language that is being assessed, not merely the quantity." (Pg. 97) Later, she adds, "findings of sex differences in visual-spatial ability are the most robust... of the cognitive sex differences, but the size of the effect varies depending on which visual-spatial task is being assessed. It also appears that the largest sex differences are found here." (Pg. 111)
She observes, "there are some types of cognitive abilities that vary, on average, as a function of sex. There are some sex-related differences in the earliest stages of information processing... but the effect of these early stage differences on later cognitive processes is unknown. Males comprise a disproportionate share of the extremely low-ability end of the verbal abilities distribution... The only type of verbal ability that shows a male advantage is solving verbal analogies. By contrast, females excel at anagrams; general and mixed verbal abilities tests; speech production; writing; memory for words, objects, and locations; perceptual-motor skills; and associational fluency... It is important to keep in mind that the list of cognitive differences is relatively small and that cognitive similarities between the sexes are greater than the differences." (Pg. 128-130)
This is an excellent survey and summary of the field, that will be of great interest to anyone studying this area.
Diane F. Halpern is an American psychologist and past-president of the American Psychological Association (APA); she is currently Professor of Psychology at Claremont McKenna College. She has written other books such as 'Thought & Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking,' 'Women at the Top: Powerful Leaders Tell Us How to Combine Work and Family,' 'Undergraduate Education in Psychology: A Blueprint for the Future of the Discipline,' etc.
She wrote in the Preface to Volume 1, "It seemed like a simple task when I started writing this book. All I had to do was provide a comprehensive synthesis of the theories and research concerning the causes, correlates, and consequences of cognitive sex differences and make some meaningful conclusions that were supported in the literature... At the time, it seemed clear to me that any between-sex differences in thinking abilities were due to socialization practices... and bias and prejudice. After reviewing a pile of journal articles that stood several feet high and numerous books and book chapters that dwarfed the stack of journal articles, I changed my mind.
"The task I had undertaken certainly wasn't simple and the conclusions that I had expected to make had to be revised... clear and consistent messages could be heard. There are real, and in some cases sizable, sex differences with respect to some cognitive abilities... there is also good evidence that biological sex differences play a role in establishing and maintaining cognitive sex differences, a conclusion that I wasn't prepared to make when I began reviewing the relevant literature." (Pg. xvii) Later, she adds, "The purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive review and synthesis of the research and theories that pertain to the questions of cognitive sex differences." (Pg. 32)
She argues, "Sex differences research is not inherently sexist---it is the only way that we can empirically determine if common beliefs and stereotypes about males and females have any basis in fact. The only alternative to knowledge is ignorance. And ignorance does not counter stereotypes or dispel myths... It is the only way that we can reject false stereotypes and understand legitimate differences." (Pg. 8)
She points out, "Researchers ... often conduct their research with other animal species. The major difficulty is generalizing from rats or monkeys to humans. We know that hormones, for example, play a greater role in the behavior of nonhuman species than they do in humans, whereas cognitive and social variables are more important in determining human behavior." (Pg. 55)
She states, "Female superiority on verbal tasks may seem reminiscent of the stereotype that females talk more than males, but it is important to keep in mind that it is the quality of speech produced and the ability to comprehend or decode language that is being assessed, not merely the quantity." (Pg. 97) Later, she adds, "findings of sex differences in visual-spatial ability are the most robust... of the cognitive sex differences, but the size of the effect varies depending on which visual-spatial task is being assessed. It also appears that the largest sex differences are found here." (Pg. 111)
She observes, "there are some types of cognitive abilities that vary, on average, as a function of sex. There are some sex-related differences in the earliest stages of information processing... but the effect of these early stage differences on later cognitive processes is unknown. Males comprise a disproportionate share of the extremely low-ability end of the verbal abilities distribution... The only type of verbal ability that shows a male advantage is solving verbal analogies. By contrast, females excel at anagrams; general and mixed verbal abilities tests; speech production; writing; memory for words, objects, and locations; perceptual-motor skills; and associational fluency... It is important to keep in mind that the list of cognitive differences is relatively small and that cognitive similarities between the sexes are greater than the differences." (Pg. 128-130)
This is an excellent survey and summary of the field, that will be of great interest to anyone studying this area.
February 23, 2015
This volume is now in its fourth edition, though I read the third. The research presented within, with equal merit given to the social and genetic research areas of sex differences, is clearly articulated and given expert commentary. Halpern presents data that have been replicated countless times, and experimental theories that died on the vine. She considers both the physical structures underlying cognitive differences (lending some more concrete science to the theoretical psychology of Noam Chomsky's linguistics, though he didn't discuss sex models much) and the crucial nature of the contexts in which differences are developed, sustained, and tested. This is very interesting work, and a reputable, informative, and highly readable text on sex differences in cognition.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews