Differences between the sexes in sensory sensitivity and performance in the visual and auditory modalities
Year: 1983
Type: dissertation
Abstract: 50 young adult males and 50 females undertook a series of psychophysical\nexperiments in the auditory and visual modalities, testing (i) sensory\nthreshold, (H) the subjective response to intensity,· and (Hi) discriminatory\nability (the Phase 1 experiments). Significant differences between the sexes\nin performance in the auditory modality were found in absolute threshold for\nsome frequencies with females being more sensitive in each instance. In\ntheir subjective response to intensity in the auditory modality, females\nconsistently set levels 8 - 9 dB lower than those set by males at all\nfrequencies. In all instances the difference was statistically significant.\nNo significant differences between the sexes were obtained in their ability\nto discriminate pitch. In the visual modality significant differences\nbetween the sexes are not apparent for dark adaptation (used as a test of\nthreshold) or the subjective reaction to intensity (glare). Analysis of the\nvisual acuity scores (discriminatory ability) shows a sex difference in favour\nof the males (p> 0.01). Extensive correlational analyses are employed to\nexamine within-mode and inter-modality relationships. The lack of\nconsistent significant and high relationships obtained indicate that sensory\nsensitivity is not a consistent property of the nervous system, and presents\nsome problems for current theories of personality. The effects of the\nmenstrual cycle on female performance in the auditory and visual modality\ntasks are also considered, and the data indicates that hormonal influences\nare implicated.\nHaving established that some differences between the sexes do exist in\nthe performance of visual and auditory tasks at the sensory or basic\nperceptual levels, the second phase experiments (administering the Bennett\nDifferential Aptitude Tests) were commenced. The rationale and methodology\nfor these experiments is described. Significant differences between the male\nand female groups in this study were not apparent in any of the Verbal/Language\nUsage tests, but significant differences in favour of the males were obtained\nfor Space Relations (p.> 0.05) and Mechanical Reasoning (p>0.02).\nCorrelational analyses between the auditory and visual parameters and\nthe cognitive abilities tested on the. Bennett DAT showed high significant\nrelationships (p > 0 .01) between auditory intensity tolerance and all the\nVerbal/Language Usage tests, and a significant relationship for the total\nsample (p >0·.05) between visual acuity and the Space Relations test.\nThe implications of the data obtained in this study for existing theories\nof sex differences are discussed.
Author: Michael A. Rowe
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W820389788