Masters M S, Sanders B
Department of Psychology, San Jose State University, California 95192-0120.
Behav Genet. 1993 Jul;23(4):337-41. doi: 10.1007/BF01067434.
Several investigators have used meta-analysis to compare the results of studies of gender differences on various spatial tests and have concluded that the magnitude of the gender difference in spatial ability is decreasing over time. The present study used meta-analytic techniques to compare the effect size (d) of the gender difference in 14 studies published from 1975 to 1992 which administered the Mental Rotations test to adolescents and young adults. Males scored significantly higher than females in all the studies. Analyses of the d's computed for the studies revealed that the magnitude of the gender difference on the Mental Rotations test has remained stable over time. Neither the Pearson correlation relating the d's to the publication dates of the studies nor the Z test of the linear contrast relating the publication dates of the studies to the effect sizes showed a linear change in the size of the gender difference over time. The finding of a stable gender difference on the Mental Rotations test argues against the general conclusion that the gender difference in spatial ability is decreasing.
几位研究者运用元分析来比较各项空间测试中性别差异的研究结果，并得出结论：空间能力方面的性别差异程度正随着时间推移而减小。本研究采用元分析技术，比较了1975年至1992年间发表的14项针对青少年和青年成人进行心理旋转测试的研究中性别差异的效应量（d）。在所有研究中，男性得分显著高于女性。对这些研究计算出的d值进行分析后发现，心理旋转测试中性别差异的程度随时间保持稳定。将d值与研究发表日期进行的皮尔逊相关性分析，以及将研究发表日期与效应量进行的线性对比的Z检验，均未显示出性别差异大小随时间的线性变化。心理旋转测试中性别差异稳定这一发现与空间能力方面性别差异正在减小的普遍结论相悖。
