A gender difference in visual-spatial ability in 4-year-old children: effects on performance of a kinesthetic acuity task.

Eighty 4-year-old children (40 boys and 40 girls) were tested on a kinesthetic acuity test (KAT), half in the presence of extra visual-spatial cues and half in the absence of these cues. All subjects were also tested on a three-dimensional block design test, a measure of visual-spatial ability. It was found that for both sexes KAT performance in the presence of the extra cues was superior to performance in their absence. In the presence of the cues boys performed significantly better than girls but when the extra cues were absent, the gender difference disappeared. There was a significant gender difference in performance on the block design test and a strong correlation between block design and KAT (with extra cues) performance for both sexes. When KAT cues were reduced, this correlation was substantially reduced. The results indicated that the gender difference in KAT performance found previously in the presence of extra visual-spatial cues was due to differential use of these cues rather than to a gender difference in kinesthetic acuity.