본 연구의 목적은 한국 아동에서 인지기능 성차가 있는지를 알아보는 것이었다. 이를 위해 7-15세의 한국 아동 557명(남아 314명, 여아 243명)에게 언어능력, 공간능력, 일반지식, 처리속도의 과제를 실시하였다. 선행 연구에 기초하여 여아는 남아보다 언어능력과 처리속도가 우세하며, 남아는 여아보다 공간능력과 일반지식이 우세할 것으로 가설하였다. 주요 결과는 다음 세 가지였다. 첫째, 여아가 단어유창성과 기호쓰기 과제에서 남아보다 높은 수행을 보여서 언어능력과 처리속도가 우세하다는 가설을 지지하였다. 둘째, 남아가 빠진곳찾기, 토막짜기, 상식 과제에서 여아보다 높은 수행을 보여서 공간능력과 일반지식이 우세하다는 가설을 지지하였다. 셋째, 단어유창성과 토막짜기 과제에서는 성차와 연령의 상호작용이 있었다. 아동의 나이가 많아짐에 따라 단어유창성의 여아 우세는 증가하는 경향, 토막짜기의 남아 우세는 감소하는 경향을 보였다. 본 연구 결과의 주요 의의는 성인에서 보고된 인지기능 성차가 초등학교 아동 시기부터 존재함을 입증한 점이다. 또한, 서구 아동에서 보고된 성차와 유사한 점에서 이러한 인지기능 성차가 상당히 문화 보편적인 현상임을 입증한다.
The aim of this study was to investigate gender differences among Korean children in cognitive abilities. To this end, 557 Korean children (314 boys and 243 girls) aged 7 to 15 years were given cognitive tests measuring verbal ability, spatial ability, general knowledge, and processing speed. Based on previous studies, it was expected that girls would outperform boys on tests measuring verbal ability and processing speed, whereas boys would outperform girls on tests measuring spatial ability and general knowledge. Major results were as follows. First, girls scored higher on tasks of Verbal Fluency and Coding, consistent with the hypothesis that girls are superior to boys in verbal ability and processing speed. Second, boys scored higher on tasks of Picture Completion, Block Design, and Information, consistent with the hypothesis that boys are superior to girls in spatial ability and general knowledge. Third, a Gender by Age interaction was found in tasks of Verbal Fluency and Block Design. With increasing age, gender differences in Verbal fluency increased, but those in Block Design decreased. In conclusion, this study provides evidence that gender differences in verbal ability, spatial ability, general knowledge, and processing speed are established in relatively early childhood. Given that similar gender differences were also reported for Western children, these gender differences are to a large extent cross-cultural.
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