SEXUAL SELECTION AND SEX-DIFFERENCES IN SPATIAL COGNITION

It is argued that a reliable and substantive sex difference, favoring males, exists in dynamic forms of spatial cognition, in particular, in the ability to mentally manipulate 8-dimensional representations of i nformation, track movement in 8-dimensional space, navigate, and in te rms of an implicit understanding of Euclidean features of physical spa ce. It is proposed that these sex differences arise from the greater e laboration of the neurocognitive systems that have evolved for navigat ing and tracking movement in the 3-dimensional universe in males than in females. An evolutionary model of these sex differences is specifie d and examined in terms of the pattern of sex differences in navigatio nal abilities that is evident across mammalian species, as well as in terms of anthropological, hormonal, and developmental patterns.