Publication

An early sex difference in the relation between mental rotation and object preference

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Last modified
  • 02/20/2025
Type of Material
Authors
    Jillian E. Lauer, Emory UniversityHallie B. Udelson, Emory UniversitySung O. Jeon, University of RochesterStella Lourenco, Emory University
Language
  • English
Date
  • 2015-05-08
Publisher
  • Frontiers Media
Publication Version
Copyright Statement
  • © 2015 Lauer, Udelson, Jeon and Lourenco.
License
Final Published Version (URL)
Title of Journal or Parent Work
ISSN
  • 1664-1078
Volume
  • 6
Start Page
  • 558
End Page
  • 558
Grant/Funding Information
  • This research was funded in part by a grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD, HD059993) to SFL.
Abstract
  • Accumulating evidence suggests that males outperform females on mental rotation tasks as early as infancy. Sex differences in object preference have also been shown to emerge early in development and precede sex-typed play in childhood. Although research with adults and older children is suggestive of a relationship between play preferences and visuospatial abilities, including mental rotation, little is known about the developmental origins of this relationship. The present study compared mental rotation ability and object preference in 6- to 13-month-old infants. We used a novel paradigm to examine individual differences in infants’ mental rotation abilities as well as their differential preference for one of two sex-typed objects. A sex difference was found on both tasks, with boys showing an advantage in performance on the mental rotation task and exhibiting greater visual attention to the male-typed object (i.e., a toy truck) than to the female-typed object (i.e., a doll) in comparison to girls. Moreover, we found a relation between mental rotation and object preference that varied by sex. Greater visual interest in the male-typed object was related to greater mental rotation performance in boys, but not in girls. Possible explanations related to perceptual biases, prenatal androgen exposure, and experiential influences for this sex difference are discussed.
Author Notes
Keywords
Research Categories
  • Psychology, General
  • Psychology, Developmental
  • Psychology, Social

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