Sex differences in verbal learning

Although sex differences in cognitive abilities have been reported in the experimental literature, there has been a paucity of information about how men and women might perform differently on clinical neuropsychological tests. The present study examines sex differences in verbal learning. Sixtyeight men and 68 women of equal age and education were administered the California Verbal Learning Test. Dependent variables included measures of recall, recognition, learning characteristics, and error types. Women displayed consistently higher levels of immedite and delayed free recall and made greater use of semantic clustering. There were no sex differences on recognition testing or error types. Results suggest that women's superior recall is attributable to better retrieval, which, in turn, is related to their greater use of verbally mediated strategies. This study highlights the importance of investigating sex differences on clinical instruments and reporting separate sex norms when appropriate.