Abstract
Two experiments investigated gender differences in recognition memory for faces and cars. Stimuli were line drawings of cars and of adult men and women (Experiment 1) and photographs of real cars and of real boys and girls (Experiment 2). In both experiments, performance was better on faces than on cars. Regarding recognition memory for men’s faces, in Experiment 1, men’s scores were higher than women’s scores. However, in Experiment 2, men recognized more cars than did women, and women recognized more children than did men. Results are generally consistent with the hypothesis that memory reflects male and female interest in, and/or differential familiarity for, different kinds of material.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bothwell, R. K., Brigham, J. C., & Malpass, R. S. (1989). Crossracial identification. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 15, 19–25.
Bruyer, R., & Crispeels, G. (1992). Expertise in person recognition. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 30, 501–504.
Davies, G., & Robertson, N. (1993). Recognition memory for automobiles: A developmental study. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 31, 103–106.
Diamond, R., & Carey, S. (1986). Why faces are and are not special: An effect of expertise. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 115, 107–117.
Goldstein, A. G., & Chance, J. E. (1985). Effects of training on Japanese face recognition: Reduction of the other-race effect. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 23, 211–214.
Malpass, R. S. (1981). Training in face recognition. In G. Davies, H. Ellis, & J. Shepherd (Eds.), Perceiving and remembering faces (pp. 271–285). New York: Academic Press.
McKelvie, S. J. (1981). Sex differences in memory for faces. Journal of Psychology, 107, 109–125.
Peeck, J., & Zwarts, J. (1983). Recognition memory for pictures of birds in relation to bird-watching skill. American Journal of Psychology, 96, 553–566.
Shapiro, P. N., & Penrod, S. (1986). Meta-analysis of facial identification studies. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 139–156.
Shepherd, J. (1981). Social factors in face recognition. In G. Davies, H. Ellis, & J. Shepherd (Eds.), Perceiving and remembering faces (pp. 55–79). New York: Academic Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McKelvie, S.J., Standing, L., Jean, D.S. et al. Gender differences in recognition memory for faces and cars: Evidence for the interest hypothesis. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 31, 447–448 (1993). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334958
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334958