Département d'Anthropologie, Université de Montréal, QC, Canada.
Hum Nat. 2012 Jun;23(2):133-48. doi: 10.1007/s12110-012-9140-1.
Differences between men and women in the performance of tests designed to measure spatial abilities are explained by evolutionary psychologists in terms of adaptive design. The Hunter-Gatherer Theory of Spatial Ability suggests that the adoption of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle (assuming a sexual division of labor) created differential selective pressure on the development of spatial skills in men and women and, therefore, cognitive differences between the sexes. Here, we examine a basic spatial skill-wayfinding (the ability to plan routes and navigate a landscape)-in men and women in a natural, real-world setting as a means of testing the proposition that sex-based differences in spatial ability exist outside of the laboratory. Our results indicate that when physical differences are accounted for, men and women with equivalent experience perform equally well at complex navigation tasks in a real-world setting. We conclude that experience, gendered patterns of activity, and self-assessment are contributing factors in producing previously reported differences in spatial ability.
男女在空间能力测试中的表现差异，进化心理学家用适应性设计来解释。空间能力的狩猎采集者理论表明，采用狩猎采集者的生活方式（假设存在性别分工），对男女空间技能的发展产生了不同的选择压力，因此，性别之间存在认知差异。在这里，我们在自然的现实环境中，研究了男女的一种基本空间技能——寻路（规划路线和导航景观的能力），以此来检验空间能力的性别差异是否存在于实验室之外的命题。我们的结果表明，当考虑到身体差异时，具有同等经验的男性和女性在现实环境中的复杂导航任务中表现同样出色。我们的结论是，经验、性别活动模式和自我评估是导致先前报告的空间能力差异的因素。
