SEX DIFFERENCES IN APTITUDE MATURATION DURING COLLEGE

Retested 126 college seniors graduating in 4 yr. with a multiaptitude precollege battery. Aptitudes with largest male-female differences were nonverbal quantitative tests, spatial ability, mechanical reasoning with males superior. Female verbal superiority in all university freshmen was absent. Significant intellectual growth occurred on all tests. The hypothesis of equal growth rates for the sexes in college could not be rejected for any measure. The same pattern of sex differences characterized this group as high school and college seniors. Further, although each sex increased all scores significantly, the amounts of change between men and women did not differ. Lastly, on only 2 of the 12 tests did the sexes differ in long-term stability of scores. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.