Sex differences in inspection time with age

• Published in: Personality and individual differences Vol. 50; no. 5; pp. 593 - 596
• Main Authors: Gregory, T., Nettelbeck, T., Burns, N.R., Danthiir, V., Wilson, C., Wittert, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-04-2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult. Elderly; Ageing; Biological and medical sciences; Biological markers; Cognition. Intelligence; Cognitive functioning; Developmental psychology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gender differences; Inspection time; Inspection times; Intellectual and cognitive abilities; Intelligence quotient; Processing speed; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Sex differences; Sex differences; Inspection time; Processing speed; Human; Cognitive ability; Sex; Information processing; Cognition; Intellectual ability; Elderly; Velocity; Intelligence quotient
• ISSN: 0191-8869; 1873-3549
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2010.11.034

Inspection time (IT) loads on speediness and correlates with IQ. Sex differences are well established on some tests of speediness but previous research has concluded that males and females have comparable ITs (
Burns & Nettelbeck, 2005). This research has, however, predominantly focused on children, university students, and adults in middle age. We tested sex differences for IT measured in two ageing studies (
N
=
479; 205 females) for people aged 65–89
years. Men and women aged 65–75 had near identical mean ITs; however, sex differences favouring men (effect size
d
=
.37) were found for participants aged 76–89
years. These differences may represent survival effects and have implications for IT as a biomarker of cognitive functioning.