Sex differences in verbal forward digit span: A brief communication

Authors

Majid Manoochehri*

Tiktaalik Institute, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

The overarching role of working memory, its characteristics, and functions in our cognitive system is conspicuous. Nevertheless, sex differences in digit span as an index of the phonological loop - one of the main components of the working memory system - remain puzzling. In spite of numerous attempts, the previous studies yielded inconsistent results. The focus of this article was to study potential sex differences in verbal forward digit span. To this end, a sample of 120 young adults ranging from 16 to 25 years old from Persian population was measured and the memory span scores were analyzed using the classical method of comparing the mean score as well as the relatively new method of comparing the frequency of extreme performances. Similar to some previous studies, no significant difference was observed between males and females’ mean score. However, analyzing the frequency of extreme scores revealed that females were slightly overrepresented in the lower tail of the score distribution. Considering the evidence observed in the present study and other similar works, it is very likely that sex differences in performing memory strategies, but not in the true size of short term memory, are the underlying reasons of the observed differences. The theoretical implications and practical importance of these findings are broadly discussed.

Keywords: digit span, sex differences, extreme scores, individual differences, memory strategies

PAGES:365-377

doi:10.24193/cbb.2020.24.19

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