Sex differences in the development of object imagery abilities across age groups

Sex differences in spatial abilities, such as the capacity to mentally rotate objects and manipulate them in space, are well-documented, typically emerging around age 13, with males consistently showing an advantage in response speed over females. However, little is known about the sex differences in the development of object imagery ability — the ability to mentally visualize the appearance of objects in terms of color and shape. Given neuroscience evidence that the ventral pathway, associated with object imagery, develops differently from the dorsal pathway involved in spatial processing, we hypothesized that the development of sex differences would vary between these two domains. In this study, we examined the development of three components of object imagery ability (shape, color, and texture) across four different age groups (13, 14, 15, and adults aged 18–35). A sample of 514 secondary school students from Singapore and 323 adults from the National University of Singapore were administered a series of spatial and object imagery tests. Females outperformed males in texture and shape imagery, and these differences remained consistent across all age groups and in adults, independent of specialization, suggesting a developmental pattern distinct from spatial ability.