HHS HealthBeat (June 23, 2006)

Boys think like that

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

This doesn’t mean girls are smarter. But researchers say that, in one way, middle school and high school boys are not as sharp.

Stephen Camarata and Leonard Woodcock of Vanderbilt University looked at processing speed – the thinking ability used in things such as timed tests, like SATs. Their study in the journal Intelligence was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Camarata says a boy-girl difference begins to appear in middle school. By high school:

"If girls are going to get about half of the items right, boys would only get about 23 percent correct, so there’s quite a significant gap there." (eight seconds)

Camarata says boys and girls are equally intelligent, and test-taking differences even out around college age.

Camarata thinks more practice might help boys, and teachers could give boys something besides timed tests.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August, 15 2006