Are cognitive sex differences disappearing? Evidence from Spanish populations

Sex differences in cognitive abilities were determined using the norms from two standardizations of the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) and the Prima ry Mental Abilities (PMA) conducted between 1979 and 1995 in Spain. The sta ndardized sex differences (ds) were computed separately for the DAT and the PMA subscales, Males scored higher in the DAT subscales Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Ability, Spatial Relations and Mechanical Reasoning, as well as i n the PMA subscales Numerical Ability and Mental Rotation. Females scored h igher in Inductive Reasoning (PMA-R) in the 1979 and 1995 standardizations. Taken together, these data do not support the hypothesis that cognitive se x differences are disappearing: there are still some differences favoring f emales and still some differences favoring males. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.