IBSS: Age Changes and Gender Differences in Spatial Abilities: Testing the Role of Mobility in Three Non-Industrial Societies and in the U.S.

这个跨学科的研究项目将侧重于确定空间能力如何受到导航经验的影响，以及空间能力如何因性别和年龄而变化。先前的研究已经观察到，在广泛的文化范围内，男性通常比女性具有更大的地理范围，并且男性通常在一些空间测试中表现得更好。由于大范围对导航和空间构成挑战，许多理论家推测，流动性的性别差异可能是空间表现的性别差异的基础。该项目将测试三个假设，这些假设可能解释流动性模式中性别相关差异的根本原因，并评估自然流动性、导航风格和空间能力之间的关系。由于在年龄和性别相关的流动模式上存在着巨大的文化差异，该项目将包括坦桑尼亚、纳米比亚和厄瓜多尔以觅食和小规模农业为生的社区的参与者，也将包括生活方式截然不同的美国的参与者。研究人员将通过访谈和使用GPS设备跟踪受试者来评估移动性。他们将通过使用经过调整的认知测试来评估导航和空间能力，使其广泛适用于不同文化。导航数据将基于现实世界和虚拟世界的任务，并将包括基于现场和实验室的组件。该项目将加强对塑造空间性能的因素的基本理解，以及它如何因性别和文化而不同。该项目将测试一些假设，希望将空间能力与不同类型的经验联系起来。由于空间技能与数学和科学的高水平表现有关，而女性和少数民族在科学、数学、工程和技术相关领域的代表性不足，因此，更多地了解增强空间思维的因素有可能使科学和技术教育和相关就业机会更广泛地获得。该项目将开发和传播可用于所有年龄和不同文化人群（包括不识字的人群）的评估工具，这将有助于提高人们在许多不同环境中的空间能力。本项目由美国国家科学基金会跨学科行为与社会科学研究（IBSS）竞赛资助。

This interdisciplinary research project will focus on determining how spatial ability is affected by navigational experience and how spatial abilities differ by gender and change with age. Previous research has observed that males generally have larger geographic ranges than females across a wide range of cultures, and males generally have done significantly better at some spatial tests. Because large ranges pose navigational and spatial challenges, many theorists have speculated that gender-related differences in mobility may underlie gender-related differences in spatial performance. This project will test three hypotheses that may explain the root causes of gender-related differences in mobility patterns and evaluate how natural mobility, navigational style, and spatial ability are related. Because there are large cultural differences in age and gender-related patterns of mobility, this project will include participants in communities in Tanzania, Namibia, and Ecuador that subsist on foraging and small-scale farming, and it also will include participants in the United States, where lifestyles are considerably different. The researchers will assess mobility through the use of interviews and by tracking subjects using GPS devices. They will assess navigational and spatial ability through the use of cognitive tests adapted to make them broadly applicable across cultures. The navigational data will based on both real-world and virtual world tasks and will include both field and laboratory-based components.This project will enhance basic understanding of the factors that shape spatial performance as well as how it differs by gender and across cultures. The project will test a number of hypotheses that have been posited in hopes of relating spatial ability to different kinds of experience. Because spatial skills are related to higher levels of performance in mathematics and science, and women and minorities are underrepresented in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology-related fields, greater knowledge about the factors that enhance spatial thinking has the potential to make scientific and technical education and related employment opportunities more broadly accessible. The project will develop and disseminate assessment tools that can be used with people of all ages and different cultures, including non-literate populations, which should help improve spatial capabilities for people in many different environments. This project is supported through the NSF Interdisciplinary Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (IBSS) competition.