Studied the cognitive abilities of seventh through ninth graders related to control of variables, proportional, probablisitic, correlational, and combinatorial reasoning using the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT; K. Tobin and W. Capie, 1980, 1981). Boys outperformed girls on proportional, probabilistic, and correlational reasoning; older students…

Data concerning 24 male and 24 female subjects (ages three and five years) on measures of sex-role orientation and cognitive ability indicated significant sex differences on the Toy Preference Test. While the relationship between Toy Preference Test scores and cognitive measures was not found to be significant, expected age differences were…

The research question addressed was whether sex differences in cognitive ability are smaller in younger age groups than in older age groups. A battery of 12 aptitude tests measuring visualization, spatial orientation, perceptual speed, associative memory, number memory, eidetic memory, spatial scanning, visual memory, and flexibility of closure…

In two experiments designed to investigate perceived cognitive abilities of young and old targets, 200 undergraduates estimated the performance of either a young or an old target on several tests. Results suggest a highly differentiated view of cognitive abilities. Compared to norms, estimates were unrealistically generous, particularly for older…

The role of stimulus preference and various subject and task variables in the solution of matrix-completion problems were examined using children at 4 and 6 years of age. Age, the number of stimulus categories, the type of drawing, and the specific matrix stimulus categories taken individually and in combination were found to have significant…

Young and older nursery school children were taken to three locations in their school and asked to point to five targets on the school grounds. Older children were more accurate than younger children, but children's spatial representations were relatively nonintegrated at both age levels. Consistent sex differences in favor of males were found.…

The use by 254 Canadian children of the dimensions of gender, language/ethnicity, and body type as bases of categorization was examined. A developmental approach was taken to see whether a sequence exists in the relative predominance of these dimensions; to examine the relation between the salience of these dimensions and cognitive developmental…

This study examined the influence of age, vocabulary knowledge, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES) on the geometric analogy performance of 4- to 6-year-olds. Subjects were 108 children between the ages of 48 and 83 months. Information on the age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status of each subject was obtained prior to data…

Analyzes sex-related differences between mental rotation rate and spatial ability among adults, 14-year-olds, and 9.5-year-olds to determine the extent to which rotation rate is a correlate of various abilities. (HOD)

Used data from interviews with 131 older spouse caregivers to explore potential explanations for gender differences in reported caregiver burden. Linear regression model explained 35 percent of variance in caregiver burden. Patient's cognitive and behavioral difficulties emerged as most important predictor of burden, followed by caregiver age,…

Measured the effect of schooling on cognitive skills by comparing the performance of 230, 6-13-year-old Hausa school children on a variety of cognitive tasks to that of 175 like-aged Hausa children who did not attend school. (Author/SDH)

Spatial cognition entails the ability to mentally represent spatial relations and to anticipate the course and outcome of transformations applied to those relations. The developmental histories of four tasks used to assess the maturity of spatial cognition in children are described. Significant effects were found for age, gender, task, and for…

Gender differences in spatial ability in old age were examined and the effectiveness of cognitive training in reducing these differences was assessed. Age-related decline in the speed of problem solving, especially for men, was noted. Following training on mental rotation ability, there was no significant gender difference in spatial ability…

Examined children's recall of the spatial configurations of an environment after the children followed prearranged paths and encountered barriers to movement. When asked to reconstruct the environmental configuration from memory, males estimated distances more accurately than did females. No age differences were noted. (Author/DB)