Stoet, Gijsbert (2017) Sex differences in the Simon task help to interpret sex differences in selective attention. Psychological Research, 81 (3). pp. 571-581. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-016-0763-4
Stoet, Gijsbert (2017) Sex differences in the Simon task help to interpret sex differences in selective attention. Psychological Research, 81 (3). pp. 571-581. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-016-0763-4
Stoet, Gijsbert (2017) Sex differences in the Simon task help to interpret sex differences in selective attention. Psychological Research, 81 (3). pp. 571-581. DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-016-0763-4
Abstract
In the last decade, a number of studies have reported sex differences in selective attention, but a unified explanation for these effects is still missing. This study aims to better understand these differences and put them in an evolutionary psychological context. 418 adult participants performed a computer-based Simon task, in which they responded to the direction of a left or right pointing arrow appearing left or right from a fixation point. Women were more strongly influenced by task-irrelevant spatial information than men (i.e., the Simon effect was larger in women, Cohen's d = 0.39). Further, the analysis of sex differences in behavioral adjustment to errors revealed that women slow down more than men following mistakes (d = 0.53). Based on the combined results of previous studies and the current data, it is proposed that sex differences in selective attention are caused by underlying sex differences in core abilities, such as spatial or verbal cognition.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Humans; Psychomotor Performance; Attention; Reaction Time; Sex Characteristics; Adult; Female; Male; Young Adult |
Divisions: | Faculty of Science and Health Faculty of Science and Health > Psychology, Department of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 16 Feb 2022 11:24 |
Last Modified: | 30 Oct 2024 17:30 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/32319 |
Available files
Filename: Sex differences in the Simon task help to interpret sex differences in selective attention.pdf
Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0