No Gender Difference in Spatial Representation by Schoolchildren in Northwest Pakistan

Abstract

Results from two spatial tasks (Kohs block design and draw-a-person-with-face-in-front)support previously documented ecocultural findings with Stone-Age culture Auca Indians and challenge a basic Western assumption of gender differences in spatial tasks that favor males. Twenty-four male and 24 female schoolchildren (ages 8 to 10) in northwest Pakistan performed both spatial tasks without showing essential gender differences. Of the girls and boys, 44.4% and 63.6%, respectively, constructed Kohs blocks correctly. Of the girls and boys, 60.8% and 47.9%, respectively, produced similar schematized neolithic-type face patterns when asked to draw a face. These findings of similar spatial representation abilities and preferences in boys and girls are even more striking when considered within the context of an Islamic cultural tradition, which had, in the past, neglected women's education, also preserved traditional women's tasks.