Developmental gender differences on the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test in a nationally normed sample of 5–17 year olds

Lynn [Lynn, R., 2002. Sex differences on the progressive matrices among 15–16 year olds: some data from South Africa. Personality and Individual Differences 33, 669–673.] proposed that biologically based developmental sex differences produce different IQ trajectories across childhood and adolescence. To test this theory we analyzed the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNA; [Naglieri, J. A., 1997. Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test-Multilevel Form. San Antonio: Harcourt Assessment Company.]) standardization sample of 79,780 children and adolescents in grades K-12, which was representative of the US census on several critical demographic variables. NNAT data were consistent with Lynn's developmental theory of gender differences insofar as (a) there were no gender differences between 6 and 9 years; (b) females scored slightly higher between 10 and 13 years; and (c) males were ahead of females between the ages of 15 and 16. However, the discrepancies between the genders were smaller than predicted by Lynn. In fact they were so small that they have little or no practical importance. In other words, the NNAT did not reveal meaningful gender differences at any stage between the ages of 6 and 17 years.