S/PS/15. Sex differences in motor performance as investigated by tasks directed at intra- & extra-personal space using proximal muscles

The study was an extension of the experiment No1, & investigated whether men and women perform differently at gross motor tasks in both intra-personal (as in Short Arm) and extra-personal (as in Long Arm) space. Two time limited (20 sec) motor tasks, both using proximal muscles: one with a short 7Ž metallic hook (close to the body), the other task with a longer 28Ž hook (further from the body) were administered to sixteen females and sixteen males in a counterbalanced mixed design. The results showed that women performed slightly better with their Short Arms while men performed better with the Long Arms. These findings are inconsistent with the theoretical expectations and do not lend strong support to the research hypothesis. Existing studies are reviewed and paradigms are discussed.