SEX DIFFERENCES IN SPATIAL VISUALIZATION OF KUWAITI SCHOOL CHILDREN

Abstract

Current published data on sex differences in spatial perception is inconclusive. In particular, there are no convincing data on the spatial visualization skills of young children; consequently, it is thought that such differences may be absent. This study was conducted to investigate sex differences in spatial visualization in a sample of Kuwaiti school children. Two hundred and thirty-five pupils (109 boys and 126 girls) aged from 5 to 9 years participated in the study. Experimental stimuli were used as a spatial visualization test. The data clearly showed that boys performed better than girls on the spatial visualization test. Their superiority resulted from a greater facility to encode shapes in general, rather than from a greater facility to specifically encode shapes in the orientations in which they were presented.