Gender differences in recall, recognition and metamemory among undergraduate college students

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: It is a popular notion that there is a gender difference in memory. Research in this area suggests that women outperform in certain memory tasks and men in other. A recent meta-analysis concluded that there was no significant difference among the genders. Metamemory, on the other hand, is a multidimensional construct that includes what people believe about their own memory and how they control and monitor their memory processes. Aim: To compare recall, recognition, and metamemory against gender variable in undergraduates. Methods: Students were given questionnaires which included the following components: (1) consent form; (2) demographic sheet; (3) semistructured questionnaire for strategic approach to memory retrieval; (4) set of 20 general knowledge questions were given both in fill in the blank (FIB) and multiple-choice question (MCQ) formats; and (5) multifactorial memory questionnaire (MMQ). Thus, the collected data from 250 students were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS version 21. Results: (1) There was no statistically significant difference in strategic approach to memory retrieval among genders. (2) Means of FIB-MCQ scores were 3.33 in males and 3.125 in females. (3) Percentage of male participants scoring above average scores on MMQ A1 and A2 was double that of female participants, whereas above average A3 percentage was slightly higher in females. (4) A negative correlation was found between MCQ-FIB score and A1 and A3 scores in females, whereas this correlation was positive in males. Conclusion: (1) There is no difference among genders in (i) Strategic approach to memory retrieval. (ii) Recall and recognition of their semantic memory. (iii) Scores on MMQ. (2) Males had a positive correlation between MMQ scores and retrieval by recognition whereas females had a negative correlation indicating a better recall is correlated to better metamemory.