Gender and social comparison effects in computer-based problem solving

Gender differences in relation to school children's learning with computers are frequently attributed to a tendency for boys to dominate computer reso urces in mixed sex settings. However, the evidence relating to children's p erformance with computers in mixed sex groups is conflicting. This paper re ports two experimental studies in which 11- to 12-year-olds worked on a com puter-based problem solving task. In the first, 62 children worked in eithe r same or mixed sex dyads, but each child had her or his own computer, and no verbal interaction was allowed. Boys out-performed girls overall, with s ex differences becoming significantly more polarised in the mixed sex dyads . The second study involved 96 children, with individual pre- and post-test s, and compared co-action dyads las in the first study) with interaction pa irs, in which the pair members worked together at a single computer, with n o restriction on interaction. The polarisation of sex differences in the mi xed sex dyads was once again found in the co-action condition, but not in t he interaction condition. Results are interpreted in terms of processes of social comparison, which appear to be more potent in this situation than an y straightforward domination of resources. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. A ll rights reserved.