SEXUAL SELECTION AND SEX-DIFFERENCES IN SPATIAL COGNITION

It is argued that a reliable and substantive sex difference, favoring males, exists in dynamic forms of spatial cognition, in particular, in the ability to mentally manipulate 8-dimensional representations of information, track movement in 8-dimensional space, navigate, and in terms of an implicit understanding of Euclidean features of physical space. It is proposed that these sex differences arise from the greater elaboration of the neurocognitive systems that have evolved for navigating and tracking movement in the 3-dimensional universe in males than in females. An evolutionary model of these sex differences is specified and examined in terms of the pattern of sex differences in navigational abilities that is evident across mammalian species, as well as in terms of anthropological, hormonal, and developmental patterns.