Gender differences in incidental learning and visual recognition memory: support for a sex difference in unconscious environmental awareness

Visual recognition memory is better for familiar objects in adult women compared with men. The present experiments examined whether this gender difference is related to either the greater verbal ability in the female population or greater compliance by females with the task instructions. The role of verbal mediation was studied in 246 undergraduates using recognition memory tasks for both abstract and nameable objects. Females recognized significantly more abstract shapes and nameable objects than males, indicating that the greater recognition memory in females is not dependent upon linguistic mediation. The role of compliance was addressed by examining the performance of 105 undergraduates on an incidental learning task which tested recognition memory for nameable objects. For 60 s, subjects located a star on a computer screen that appeared in different locations against a background of common objects. Immediately following, the subjects were shown a screen on which all of the original objects appeared as well as additional objects. Females identified significantly more objects than males. Together data from these studies suggest that the gender difference in recognition memory reflects a greater unconscious processing of environmental stimuli in females. Results are discussed with respect to the possible role of evolutionary selection with respect to the environmental awareness necessary for care of altricial offspring.