Sex Differences on Piaget's Water-Level Task: Spatial Ability Incognito

1976 ◽  
Vol 42 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1323-1328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva R. Geiringer ◽  
Janet S. Hyde

Sherman's (1967) hypothesis that sex differences in performance on many cognitive tasks can be explained by sex differences in spatial ability was extended to explain sex differences in performance on Piaget's water-level task. The hypothesis was supported. The correlations between average errors on the water-level task and performance on the Primary Mental Abilities, Spatial Relations Test were –.83 for 12th-grade males, –.97 for 12th-grade females, –.65 for fifth-grade males, and –.42 for fifth-grade females. Statistically significant sex differences were found on both the spatial test and the water-level task for the 12th graders, while neither test showed significant sex differences for the fifth graders. An analysis of covariance of sex differences in 12th graders' scores on the water-level task, using spatial performance as a covariate, indicated that sex differences were not statistically significant, suggesting that no important sex differences remain on the water-level task once differences in spatial ability have been removed.

2002 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 425-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max E. Levine ◽  
Robert M. Stern

There are substantial individual differences in susceptibility to motion sickness, yet little is known about what mediates these differences. Spatial ability and sex have been suggested as possible factors in this relationship. 89 participants (57 women) were administered a Motion Sickness Questionnaire that assesses motion sickness susceptibility, a Water-level Task that gauges sensitivity to gravitational upright, and a mental Rotation Task that tests an individual's awareness of how objects typically move in space. Significant sex differences were observed in performance of both the Water-level Task ( p<.01), and the Mental Rotation Task ( p<.005), with women performing less accurately than men. Women also had significantly higher scores on the Motion Sickness Questionnaire ( p<.005) Among men, but not women, significant negative relationships were observed between Water-level Task performance and Motion Sickness Questionnaire score ( p<.001) and between Mental Rotation Task performance and Motion Sickness Questionnaire score ( p<.005). In conclusion, women performed significantly more poorly than men did on the spatial ability tasks and reported significantly more bouts of motion sickness. In audition, men showed a significant negative relationship between spatial ability and motion sickness susceptibility.


1974 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Heys

This paper reports the dimensions found in the responses of a sample of Sydney fifth grade children to an omnibus anxiety questionnaire. It also reports the correlation of full-scale and factorial dimensional measures of anxiety with performance on a battery of standardized academic achievement tests. For both sexes factors that referred to anxiety responses in specific situations in the classroom were found, with test and recitation situations being the most salient. Factors were also found that referred, inter alia, to trait-like feelings of lack of confidence and self-doubt, to anxiety in dreams, and to anxiety generally about classroom performance. Sex differences were clearly observed with regard to the nature and item composition of obtained factors although some similarities across sex were apparent. The correlational analyses generally produced higher negative correlations between anxiety and performance for girls than for boys; and factorial measures of lack of confidence (for both girls and boys) and generalized anxiety about performance in class (for girls only) consistently showed stronger negative correlations with performance than did other full-scale or factorial measures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy A. Bigalke ◽  
Ian M. Greenlund ◽  
Jason R. Carter

Abstract Background COVID-19 and home isolation has impacted quality of life, but the perceived impact on anxiety and sleep remains equivocal. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders on self-report anxiety and sleep quality, with a focus on sex differences. We hypothesized that the COVID-19 pandemic would be associated with increased anxiety and decreased sleep quality, with stronger associations in women. Methods One hundred three participants (61 female, 38 ± 1 years) reported perceived changes in anxiety and sleep quality due to stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic and were administered the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Chi-square and T test analyses were utilized to assess sex differences in reported anxiety and sleep. Analysis of covariance was used to compare the associations between reported impact of COVID-19 and anxiety/sleep parameters. Results Women (80.3%) reported higher prevalence of increased general anxiety due to COVID-19 when compared to men (50%; p = 0.001) and elevated STAI state anxiety compared to men (43 ± 1 vs. 38 ± 1 a.u., p = 0.007). Despite these differences in anxiety, the perceived impact of COVID-19 on PSQI was not different between sexes. However, when stratified by perceived changes in anxiety due to COVID-19, participants with higher anxiety responses to COVID-19 had higher ISI compared to those with no perceived changes in anxiety (9 ± 1 vs. 5 ± 1 a.u., p = 0.003). Additionally, participants who reported reduced sleep quality due to COVID-19 reported higher state anxiety (45 ± 1 a.u.) compared to those that perceived no change (36 ± 2 a.u., p = 0.002) or increased (36 ± 2 a.u., p < 0.001) sleep quality. Conclusion COVID-19 and state-ordered home isolation was associated with higher anxiety and reduced sleep quality, with a stronger association in women with respect to anxiety.


Roeper Review ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 254-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heinrich Stumpf ◽  
Carol J. Mills ◽  
Linda E. Brody ◽  
Philip G. Baxley

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wahid Palash ◽  
Yudan Jiang ◽  
Ali S. Akanda ◽  
David L. Small ◽  
Amin Nozari ◽  
...  

A forecasting lead time of 5–10 days is desired to increase the flood response and preparedness for large river basins. Large uncertainty in observed and forecasted rainfall appears to be a key bottleneck in providing reliable flood forecasting. Significant efforts continue to be devoted to developing mechanistic hydrological models and statistical and satellite-driven methods to increase the forecasting lead time without exploring the functional utility of these complicated methods. This paper examines the utility of a data-based modeling framework with requisite simplicity that identifies key variables and processes and develops ways to track their evolution and performance. Findings suggest that models with requisite simplicity—relying on flow persistence, aggregated upstream rainfall, and travel time—can provide reliable flood forecasts comparable to relatively more complicated methods for up to 10 days lead time for the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and upper Meghna (GBM) gauging locations inside Bangladesh. Forecasting accuracy improves further by including weather-model-generated forecasted rainfall into the forecasting scheme. The use of water level in the model provides equally good forecasting accuracy for these rivers. The findings of the study also suggest that large-scale rainfall patterns captured by the satellites or weather models and their “predictive ability” of future rainfall are useful in a data-driven model to obtain skillful flood forecasts up to 10 days for the GBM basins. Ease of operationalization and reliable forecasting accuracy of the proposed framework is of particular importance for large rivers, where access to upstream gauge-measured rainfall and flow data are limited, and detailed modeling approaches are operationally prohibitive and functionally ineffective.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 60-72
Author(s):  
S Sudirman ◽  
Fiki Alghadari

Spatial ability is an important one of the abilities for completing many tasks in everyday life successfully. Spatial ability is considered a type of different ability to others. Therefore, there needs a study on how are the characteristics of spatial abilities and to develop in schools. This paper is to reveal the ways are developing spatial abilities in learning mathematics. Based on literature review from some research, at least that there are six ways to develop spatial abilities in learning mathematics, namely: (1) using spatial language in daily interactions; (2) teaching for sketching and drawing; (3) using a suitable game; (4) using a tangram; (5) using video games; and (6) origami and folding paper. Playing video games like Tetris are exercises for spatial relations, mental rotation, spatial orientation, and spatial visualization.


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