Sex differences in number line estimation: The role of numerical estimation
Journal
The British journal of psychology
ISSN
0950-5652
ISSN-Digital
2044-8295
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2016-06-22
Author(s)
Abstract
Sex differences in mathematical performance have frequently been examined over the last decades indicating an advantage for males especially when numerical problems cannot be solved by (classroom-)learnt strategies and/or estimation. Even in basic numerical tasks such as number line estimation, males were found to outperform females – with sex differences argued to emerge from different solution strategies applied by males and females. We evaluated the latter using two versions of the number line estimation task: a bounded and an unbounded task version. Assuming that women tend more strongly to apply known procedures, we expected them to be at a particular disadvantage in the unbounded number line estimation task, which is less prone to be solved by specific strategies such as proportion judgement but requires numerical estimation. Results confirmed more pronounced sex differences for unbounded number line estimation with males performing significantly more accurately in this task version. This further adds to recent evidence suggesting that estimation performance in the bounded task version may reflect solution strategies rather than numerical estimation. Additionally, it indicates that sex differences regarding the spatial representation of number magnitude may not be universal, but associated with spatial–numerical estimations in particular.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Wiley
Publisher place
Hoboken, NJ [u.a.]
Start page
1
End page
17
Pages
17
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
248587