WOMEN RECONSTRUCT MORE DETAILS THAN MEN FOR A COMPLEX 5-MINUTE NARRATIVE - IMPLICATIONS FOR RIGHT-HEMISPHERIC FACTORS IN THE SERIAL MEMORY EFFECT

A total of 20 men and 20 women listened to a 5-min. ambiguous narrativ e (the ''Billy'' story). When the subjects were asked (unexpectedly) t o reconstruct the details of the story as a written narrative 30 min. later, women employed about 50% more words and comparably more accurat e detail than the men. Covariance for pre-experimental experiences sug gested that the women's proficiency could be related to the greater re presentation of linguistic processes within the right (non-dominant) h emisphere. The hypothesis that the classic deficit of reconstructional accuracy for events during the middle of a story is related to right- hemispheric inhibition was also supported. Subjects who recalled the f ewest details reported more vivid dreaming during the subsequent two d ays.