Figures & data
Figure 1. Simplified model of Levy’s hypothesis. Males have stronger hemispheric specialization for verbal and spatial abilities than females. The stronger specialization enhances spatial abilities while the more bilateral organization enhances verbal abilities.
Figure 2. Overview of cognitive sex differences. Tasks favouring males (A) Redrawn Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotation Test: Which of the four stimuli are identical but rotated versions of the target figure? (with permission from Peters et al., Citation1995) (B) Paper folding test: Do the two arrows meet when the cube is folded? (adapted from Shepard & Feng, Citation1972) (C) Water level test: A line representing the water level needs to be drawn into the empty jar. Tasks favouring females (D) Object location memory test: Which items have changed its position? (adapted from Silverman & Eals, Citation1992) (E) Verbal fluency: Generate as many words as possible that start with the letter “F” or “A”. (F) Verbal memory: How many words from a list can be recalled?
Table 1. Overview of meta-analyses on sex differences in hemispheric asymmetry, pointing to an overall slightly stronger lateralization in males.
Figure 3. PRISMA flow diagram showing the study selection process for the systematic review.
Table 2. Overview of studies that examined sex differences in sex-sensitive cognitive tasks and hemispheric asymmetry.
Data availability statement
Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study.