Gender Differences in Human Cognition [Paperback]

For years, both psychologists and the general public have been fascinated with the notion that there are gender differences in cognitive abilities; even now, flashy cover stories exploiting this idea dominate major news magazines, while research focuses on differences in verbal, mathematical, spatial, and scientific abilities across gender. This new volume in the Counterpoints series not only summarizes and addresses the validity (or invalidity) of such research, but also questions its ideology and consequences. Why do we search so intently for these differences? And what are the social and cultural implications of this relentless emphasis? Do biological mechanisms, in fact, contribute to the male-female differences in cognition? These are just a few of the questions generated by this controversial topic as it is debated throughout the book.

1. Introduction to the Study of Gender Differences in Cognition,John T.E. Richardson
2. Gender Differences in Cognition: Results from Meta-Analyses,Janet Shibley Hyde and Nita M. McKinley
3. Do Sex-Related Cognitive Differences Exist, and Why do People Seek Them Out?,Paula J. Caplan and Jeremy B. Caplan
4. The Meanings of Differences: Cognition in Social and Cultural Context,Mary Crawford and Roger Chaffin
5. Conclusions from the Study of Gender Differences in Cognition,John T.E. Richardson

This evaluation of current research in gender studies as they relate to cognition should be of particular interest to psychologists, educators, and policy-makers. --Shirley R. Rausher,Readings

Within the first pages, the authors focus their scholarly energies on verbal, spatial, and mathematical abilities because, we are told, researchers typically have searched for individual differences within such test domains. All four authors provide highly readable 30-page chapters, each taking a variation on the same perspective, i.e., that whatever cognitive dilãf