Abstract
The study aimed at establishing if gender differences in learning and recall of verbal information exist. To achieve its aim, the study selected 168 participants (92 males and 76 females) with ages ranging from 18 to 76 years (M = 31.55, SD = 14.443). In the assessment of learning and memory recall, the study used the RAVLT instrument in testing the hypothesis that significant gender differences exist in various variables of learning and memory recall. The variables such as immediate recall, total recall, learning curve, and interference did not show significant gender differences. However, delayed recall exhibited significant gender difference. These findings imply that gender differences exist in the aspect of delayed memory recall.
Literature Review
The variation in learning and memory abilities across gender has become a central subject in the development of curricula in various education systems globally. Psychologists attribute differences in learning and memory among learners to biological factors like gender and age, social factors such as social learning, and the interaction of biological and social factors (Bleecker, Bolla-Wilson, Agnew, & Meyers, 1998; Kramer, Delis, & Daniel, 1988). The differences in learning and memory imply that learners have diverse learning mechanisms and different levels of memory recall, which vary according to biological and social factors. Kramer, Yaffe, Lengenfelder, and Delis (2003) attribute age and gender differences in memory performance to hormones. Therefore, the literature review seeks to determine if gender differences in learning and recall of verbal information exist among learners.
Given that learning and memory capacities vary from one learner to another, depending on their health conditions, Gale, Baxter, Connor, Herring, and Comer (2007) examined memory and learning using the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R) and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), which are tools that are applicable in assessing dementia. As adults are likely to experience dementia, the study selected 172 healthy individuals (59 males and113 (females), who have the ages between 60 and 89 (Gale et al., 2007).
Comparative analysis of the performance of males and females indicates that marked differences exist. According to Gale et al. (2007), females outperformed males in all aspects of RAVLT and some aspects of BVMT-R. However, these findings have low external validity because the study only focused on older people and about two-thirds of participants were women.
In a similar study, which aimed at establishing the existence of gender and age-related differences in learning and memory, Bleecker, Bolla-Wilson, Agnew, and Meyers (1988) selected 196 healthy participants, who have the ages of 40 and 89 (87 males and 109 females). Fundamentally, the study used RAVLT in assessing memory performance across the ages of women and men. According to Bleeker et al. (1988), age and sex have a significant influence on the memory performance of adults. These findings support the findings of Gale et al. (12007), which indicates that learning and memory vary according to gender. Nevertheless, the findings have low external validity because the participants were predominantly women and are only applicable to adults. The study among young people aged 8 and 17 years revealed that female learners exhibit superior verbal memory performance than male learners (Vakil, Greenstein, & Blachstein, 2010). Thus, the study affirms that gender differences in learning and memory exist among learners.
Assessment of learning and memory among learners using the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) has revealed the existence of gender differences. The CVLT is an accurate instrument that assesses learning, retention, and retrieval of information. In a study, Norman, Evans, Miller, and Heaton (2000) assessed 906 participants and established that gender, age, ethnicity, and education are significant predictors of verbal learning and memory performance. In this view, given that the balanced study gender, age, education, and ethnicity of participants, these findings have high external and internal validity. In a similar study, Kramer, Yaffe, Lengenfelder, and Delis (2003) used CVLT in assessing verbal memory performance among 533 young participants (16-47 years) and 446 old participants (55-89 years).
The analysis of the findings revealed that verbal memory performance significantly varies according to age and gender. Essentially, multivariate analyses revealed that male participants depicted verbal memory performance declines with age of the young male participants and older participants, but among the young female participants are not age-related (Kaushanskaya, Marian, & Yoo, 2011). Hence, the findings affirm that gender differences in verbal performance memory exist.
The review of findings has revealed that learning and memory abilities of individuals are subject to age and gender. In this view, it is evident that gender and age-related differences in learning and memory emanate from a complex of biological and social factors, which interact effectively and influence learners. The existence of gender differences in learning requires instructors to customize their instructions to suit learning mechanisms and memory requirements of learners as per their gender. Therefore, the aim of the study is to determine if gender differences in learning and recall of verbal information exist among learners.
Methodology
Participants
The study selected 168 participants from the target population using the convenience method of sampling. The target population was the healthy individuals in the community, who have the ages of between 18 and 70 years. Out of 168 participants, 92 were males, while 76 were females. The ages of female participants ranged from 18 to 70 years with a mean of 32.74 years and a standard deviation of 14.9, while that of male participants ranged from 18 to 66 years with a mean of 30.57 years and a standard deviation of 14.021. Hence, the range of ages between male and female participants did not have a significant difference. Overall, the age range of the 168 participants was 52 years because the minimum age was 18, and the maximum age was 70 years. Moreover, the mean and standard deviation of the 168 participants was 31.55 and 14.443, respectively. In this view, the mean and standard deviation of each group had no significant difference.
Instruments
The study employed RAVLT as an instrument for assessing learning and recall of verbal information among participants. RAVLT is a neuropsychological tool that Rey Andre developed in 1964 and is applicable in assessing learning and memory among learners and patients (Gale et al. 2007; Teruya, Ortiz, Minett, 2009). The RAVLT comprises of 15 unrelated words in category A and another 15 unrelated words in category B. As constructs of the RAVLT, the function of words in category A is to assess learning and verbal recall of information, while the function of words in category B is to interfere with the recall of the words in category A.
Thus, the RAVLT scores that the study assessed are immediate recall, total recall, learning curve, interference, and delayed recall. These are the five variables, which are the items that the study focused and assessed in the determination of gender differences in learning and verbal recall of information. The instrument is reliable RAVLT is because it measures learning and memory capacities of individuals accurately. Since the instrument is reliable, it has strong internal validity. Regarding validity, the study has strong external validity because of the random selection of participants with a wide range of ages.
Procedure
In the selection of the participants, the study employed a convenience sampling method to enhance the representation of the population, which usually affect the validity of the findings. The participants then went through the practical, where the instructors read the unrelated words to them and asked them to recall. In the first instance, the instructors read 15 unrelated words in category A. The participants were supposed to recall the unrelated words in category A. Subsequently; the instructors read 15 unrelated words in category B so that they can interfere with the first category of words. After a period of 20 minutes, the instructors assessed the recall capacity of individuals by noting the number of words they could recall both in category A and category B. In the ability of the participants to recognize unrelated words in both categories provides ample information about learning and memory. Therefore, assessment of the outcomes of the study provides data in terms of immediate recall, total recall, learning curve, interference, and delayed recall.
Results
Overview
In assessing the learning and recall of information, the study examined lists of words recalled in trial 1, the sum of words recalled in trial 1 through 5, trial five minus trial 1, trial six minus trial 1, and list of words in category A recalled after a 20-minute delay. The list of words recalled in trial 1 represents immediate recall, while the sum of words recalled in trial 1 through 5 represents total recall. Trial 5 minus trial 1 depicts learning curve, whereas trial six minus trial 1 shows the extent of interference. The list of words in category A recalled after 20-minute delay represents delayed recall. The study employed independent samples t-test in comparing the means of male and female participants in all the five variables and determining if gender differences exist in learning and memory.
Descriptive Statistics
The immediate recall
Descriptive statistics of the immediate recall depict that there are apparent gender differences in means and standard deviations because female participants have a higher mean and standard variation (M = 7.20, SD = 2.00) than male participants (M = 6.88, SD = 1.78). Table 1 is a descriptive table that shows the apparent differences in means and standard deviations.
Table 1
Total recall
Table 3 below shows that there is a slight gender difference in total recall. The male participants have a slightly lower mean (M = 50.82, SD = 9.06) than female participants (M = 52.64, SD = 8.64).
Table 2
Learning curve
Table 3 below depicts descriptive statistics of a learning curve. From the table, it is evident that male and female participants do not have significant differences because their means are 5.46±2.22 and 5.45±2.80, respectively.
Table 3
Interference
The descriptive statistics of interference in table 4 show that there is an insignificant difference because male participants scored a higher mean (M = -1.89, SD = 2.07) than female participants (M = -1.79, SD = 2.51).
Table 4
Delayed recall
Table 5 below shows the descriptive statistics, which depict that there are apparent gender differences in words recalled after 20 minutes’ delay. Male participants have lower mean (M = 10.12, SD = 3.207) than female participants (M = 11.13, SD = 2.75).
Table 5
Summary Statements
Immediate recall
From the independent samples test table (table 6), there is no significant difference in immediate recall between female participants (M = 7.20, SD = 2.00) and male participants (M = 6.88, SD = 1.78), [t(166) = -1.085, p = 0.28, two-tailed].
Table 6: Independent Samples Test.
Total recall
The table below is an independent samples test table, which shows that significant differences in the total number of words recalled do not exist between male participants (M = 50.82, SD = 9.06) and female participants (M = 52.64, SD = 8.64), [t(166) = -1.502, p = 0.135, two-tailed].
Table 7: Independent Samples Test.
Learning curve
From the independent samples test (table 8), there is no significant differences in scores of a learning curve between male participants (M = 5.46, SD = 2.22) and female participants (M = 5.45, SD = 2.80), [t(166) = -0.024, p = 0.981, two tailed].
Table 8: Independent Samples Test.
Interference
From the independent samples t-test, table 9, the scores of interference show that significant differences between male participants (M = 10.12, SD = 3.207) and female participants (M = 11.13, SD = 2.75) is not significant, [t(166) = -.283, p = 0.774, two-tailed].
Table 9: Independent Samples Test.
Delayed recall
Table 10 below is an independent samples test, which shows that words recalled after 20 minutes differ significantly between male participants (M = 10.12, SD = 3.207) and female participants (M = 11.13, SD = 2.75), [t(166) = -2.17, p = 0.031, two-tailed].
Table 10: Independent Samples Test.
Discussion
Discussion of Results
Analysis of the data regarding gender difference in learning and memory recalls it provided diverse findings. As the study had hypothesized that gender differences in learning and memory recall exist, most of the variables of RAVLT deviated from the hypotheses. From the independent samples test results, RAVLT variables such the immediate recall, total recall, learning curve and interference depicted insignificant gender differences in respective scores. Concerning the variable of immediate, gender differences were not significant, [t(166) = -1.085, p = 0.28, two-tailed]. These findings are consistent with earlier studies, which found out that RAVLT does not detect defects in of learning and memory on the first trial (Bleecker et al., 1988; Gale et al., 2007; Vakil, 2010). Moreover, the findings of total recall and learning curve confirmed that male and female learners do not exhibit marked differences because the p-values were greater than 0.05.
Regarding interference, gender difference were not significant, [t(166) = -0.024, p = 0.981, two tailed]. This implies that RAVLT did not detect any gender difference in interference scores. According to Gale et al. (2007), interference usually occurs immediately after the 5th trial. Hence, it means that the assessment of trials more than five could reveal the existence of gender difference in memory recall. Numerous studies concur that gender differences in interference in that male learner experience greater interference than female learners (Kramer et al., 1998; Kramer et al., 2003; Norman et al., 2000). Thus, these findings slightly contradict previous findings. However, the findings regarding the construct of delayed recall demonstrated significant gender differences, [t(166) = -2.17, p = 0.031, two-tailed]. According to Gale et al. (2007), women outperform men in delayed recall and thus indicate gender differences in learning and memory.
Limitations
In the aspect of data collection, the limitation is that the collection of data occurred in varied intervals during each successive trial, which could have temporal impacts on the validity of the findings. The limitation of the study also exists in the aspect of sample collection because a convenience method of sampling, which is prone to researchers’ biases. Since the RAVLT is a complex neuropsychological instrument, the study did not follow explicit procedures of its use as envisioned by the author, Rey Andre.
Recommendations
- Since the study did not find significant gender differences in variables such as immediate recall, total recall, learning curve, and interference, future researches should focus on participants with a specific age group because age could be a confounding variable in this study.
- To enhance the internal and external validity of the findings, further studies should consider using more than two neuropsychological instruments.
- As five variables do not effectively encapsulate learning and memory recall, future studies should use more than five variables, which accurately measures the constructs of interest.
Conclusion
Gender differences in learning and memory have been an issue that has puzzled psychologists, psychiatrists, and teachers in equal measure. By the use of the RAVLT as a neuropsychological instrument, this study established that apparent gender differences exist, but are not significant. Specifically, the study found out that gender differences in learning and memory recall were not significant in variables such as immediate recall, total recall, learning curve, and interference, which contrasted earlier findings. However, the study revealed that the participants exhibited significant gender differences in delayed recall. The implication of these findings is that significant gender differences exist in delayed recall among people of ages between 18 and 76 years.
References
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Gale, S. D., Baxter, L., Connor, D. J., Herring, A., & Comer, J. (2007). Sex differences on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised in the elderly: Normative data in 172 participants. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 29(5), 561-567. Web.
Kaushanskaya, M., Marian, V., & Yoo, J. (2011). Gender differences in adult word learning. Acta Psychologica, 137(1), 24-35. Web.
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