TY - JOUR
T1 - Sex differences on elementary cognitive tasks despite no differences on the Wonderlic Personnel Test
AU - Pesta, Bryan J.
AU - Bertsch, S.
AU - Poznanski, Peter J
AU - Bommer, W.H.
N1 - Pesta, B., Bertsch, S., Poznanski, P., Bommer, W. H. (2008). Sex Differences on Elementary Cognitive Tasks Despite No Differences on the Wonderlic Personnel Test. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(5), pp. 429-431.
PY - 2008/1/1
Y1 - 2008/1/1
N2 - Whether males and females differ in general mental ability (GMA) remains an open question. Complicating the issue is that standardized IQ tests are constructed to minimize sex differences. We propose a potential solution whereby GMA is measured via performance on elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs). ECTs assess basic information-processing ability, yet correlate moderately highly with GMA. Toward this end, we had male (n = 218) and female (n = 226) undergraduates complete the Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT), and two ECTs: inspection time (IT) and reaction time (RT). The sex difference on the WPT was non-significant (d = .17), but small differences favoring males existed for IT (d = .34), RT (d = .26), the standard deviation of RT (d = .30), and an ECT factor score (d = .38). Unlike standardized IQ tests, ECTs may be a viable research tool to help clarify and illuminate the nature of sex differences on GMA.
AB - Whether males and females differ in general mental ability (GMA) remains an open question. Complicating the issue is that standardized IQ tests are constructed to minimize sex differences. We propose a potential solution whereby GMA is measured via performance on elementary cognitive tasks (ECTs). ECTs assess basic information-processing ability, yet correlate moderately highly with GMA. Toward this end, we had male (n = 218) and female (n = 226) undergraduates complete the Wonderlic Personnel Test (WPT), and two ECTs: inspection time (IT) and reaction time (RT). The sex difference on the WPT was non-significant (d = .17), but small differences favoring males existed for IT (d = .34), RT (d = .26), the standard deviation of RT (d = .30), and an ECT factor score (d = .38). Unlike standardized IQ tests, ECTs may be a viable research tool to help clarify and illuminate the nature of sex differences on GMA.
KW - Organizational Behavior
UR - http://www.csuohio.edu/business/academics/mlr/documents/pesta_08_paid_sex_iq.pdf
UR - https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/bus_facpub/11
U2 - 10.1016/j.paid.2008.05.028
DO - 10.1016/j.paid.2008.05.028
M3 - Article
VL - 45
JO - Personality and Individual Differences
JF - Personality and Individual Differences
ER -