Gender, Spatial Abilities, and Wayfinding
Gender, Spatial Abilities, and Wayfinding
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DOI：
10.1007/978-1-4419-1465-1_16
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发表时间：
2010-01-01
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影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Lawton, Carol A.
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作者：
Lawton, Carol A.
空间能力是指在空间中定位目标，感知距离和方向关系，以及在心理上根据物体在空间中的位置或方向转换物体的认知过程。这些能力用于日常活动（例如，在驾驶一条不熟悉的路线后找到回家的路）和需要在二维和三维空间中进行设计和规划的职业（例如，工程，建筑）。空间能力是性别研究人员感兴趣的，因为它们显示了认知中性别差异的最明显证据;事实上，很少有其他类型的认知显示出最小的性别差异（Hyde，2005）。在某些空间能力方面，性别差异比其他能力更大，但有一个例外，男性的平均表现优于女性。在详细研究这些差异之前，重要的是要确定为什么我们应该关心性别和空间能力之间的关系。从早期关于空间能力性别差异的报道开始，研究人员认为，这些差异可能导致女性在以空间技能为基础的领域中的比例较低，如物理学，工程学和建筑学（例如，Fennema，1975; Maccoby & Jacklin，1974;谢尔曼，1967）。空间能力预测了学生留在工程专业的可能性（Kinsey，Towle，奥布莱恩和鲍尔，2008年），并部分解释了在某些数学领域的性别差异（凯西、纳托尔、佩扎里斯和本鲍，1995年;凯西、纳托尔和佩扎里斯，1997年，2001年;凯西、赢家、布拉贝克和沙利文，1990年;吉尔里、索尔斯、刘和霍德，2000年）。在青春期早期被认定为天才的男孩和女孩中，高空间能力预示着高中时对数学和科学课程的喜爱，以及追求物理科学，数学和工程职业的可能性（Shea，Lubinski和Benbow，2001）。许多研究人员担心，这些发现可能会被用来证明女性在数学和工程职业中的代表性不足（哈佛大学校长劳伦斯·萨默斯在2005年1月一次广为宣传的演讲中表达了这一观点），他们认为，如果把重点放在阻碍妇女进入这些领域的社会差距上，辩论会更好（例如，Hines，2007; Newcombe，2007）。然而，关于性别和空间认知的研究可以用来为提高空间能力的方法提供信息，也许还可以提高人们对追求依赖这些能力的职业的兴趣。其他实际应用包括提高寻路技能和减少执行导航任务时的焦虑。
Spatial abilities refer to the cognitive processes involved in locating targets in space, perceiving distance and directional relationships, and mentally transforming objects with respect to their position or orientation in space. These abilities are used in everyday activities (eg, finding one’s way home after driving an unfamiliar route) and in occupations that require design and planning in two-and three-dimensional space (eg, engineering, architecture). Spatial abilities are of interest to gender researchers because they show the clearest evidence of gender differences in cognition; in fact, few other types of cognition show anything more than minimal gender differences (Hyde, 2005). Gender differences are larger for some spatial abilities than for others, but, with one exception, men perform better on average than do women. Before examining these differences in detail, it is important to establish why we should care about the relationship between gender and spatial abilities. Beginning with early reports of gender differences in spatial abilities, researchers have suggested that these differences might contribute to the low proportions of women in mathematics-based fields that draw on spatial skills, such as physics, engineering, and architecture (eg, Fennema, 1975; Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974; Sherman, 1967). Spatial ability predicts the likelihood that students will remain in engineering programs (Kinsey, Towle, O’Brien, & Bauer, 2008) and accounts in part for performance differences between the genders in certain areas of mathematics (Casey, Nuttall, Pezaris, & Benbow, 1995; Casey, Nuttall, & Pezaris, 1997, 2001; Casey, Winner, Brabeck, & Sullivan, 1990; Geary, Saults, Liu, & Hoard, 2000). Among boys and girls identified as gifted in early adolescence, high spatial ability predicts liking for math and science classes in high school and likelihood of pursuing occupations in the physical sciences, mathematics, and engineering (Shea, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2001). Many researchers are concerned that such findings may be used to justify the under-representation of women in mathematics and engineering careers (a viewpoint expressed by Harvard University President Lawrence Summers in a much-publicized speech in January, 2005), and they argue that the debate would be better served by focusing on the social disparities that discourage women from entering these fields (eg, Hines, 2007; Newcombe, 2007). However, research on gender and spatial cognition can be used to inform methods of improving spatial abilities and perhaps also to increase interest in pursuing careers that rely on those abilities. Other practical applications include improving wayfinding skills and reducing anxiety about performing navigational tasks.