Factors related to sex differences in navigating a computerized maze

The aim of this study was to compare computerized maze navigation performance and strategy by sex, and to investigate the relationships between navigation variables and self-reported experiential or personality dimensions. Participants used a joystick to explore a maze and were told to learn the layout of the maze as well as the locations of six objects within the maze. Men outperformed women, but some of the sex differences decreased in magnitude when we accounted for video game experience. Men were more likely than women to report strategies consistent with using an allocentric perspective to solve the maze, whereas women were more likely than men to report strategies consistent with an egocentric approach. We report several factors associated with successful navigation in a computerized maze, some of which relate to real life navigation and may contribute to the sex differences often reported for measures of spatial cognition.