Sex Id

10/12/2010

BBC - Science & Nature - Sex ID

You are here: BBC Science > Human Body & Mind > Brain sex

Print Page | Go back

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Human body homepage Sleep homepage Sex ID homepage

Sex ID articles The scale below is an indication of where you fall in the male-female brain continuum. The results are based on the angles, spot thedifference, 3D shapes and words tasks. Bear in mind that your performance may be affected by many factors in addition to gender, like age and intelligence. Your personal brain score:
Brain Sex Empathising and systemising Facial attractiveness Handedness Spatial tests Testosterone

Facts and features
Fish oils and brainpow er Hot topics - Intelligence

Other psychology tests
Personality typeMemory test Spot the fake smile What's your millionaire potential? Face perception 1

Average score for MEN who've taken this survey:

bbc.co.uk/new s Differences betw een men and w omen

Average score for WOMEN who've taken this survey:

Woman's Hour - Male and female behaviour bbc.co.uk/parenting Tomboy or sissy?

If you are using a public PC we strongly advise you to print out anddelete your results if you do not want anyone to see them.

UCLA - General intelligence equal betw een sexes Guardian Online - The truth about science and sex

back to top

Part 1 Angles
This task tested your ability to identify the angle of a line by matching it with its twin. This is a spatial task, which looks at how you picture space. Your score: 15 out of 20 Average score for men: 15.1 outof 20

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external w ebsites.

bbc.co.uk/print/science/…/results.shtml

1/6

10/12/2010 BBC - Science & Nature - Sex ID Average score for women: 13.3 out of 20
What does your result suggest? If you scored 0 - 12: You have more of a female brain. Scientists believe that people with a female brain find it more difficult to judge the slope of aline because they're not wired for spatial tasks. In past studies, 65 per cent of people who scored in this range were women. If you scored 13 - 17: You found this test neither hard nor easy. This suggests your brain has male and female traits when it comes to spatial ability. If you scored 18 - 20: You have more of a male brain. On average, men outperform women in this task and those with moremathematical knowledge tend to score quite high as well. In past studies, 60 per cent of the people in this range were men. Interestingly, men's testosterone levels fluctuate through the seasons and studies have shown that men's scores are lower in the spring, when their testosterone levels are at their lowest. Do our cave dwelling ancestors offer us any clues about why men and women score differentlyon this task? Find out more.

Spot the difference
This task tested your ability to identify which objects changed position. You lost points, if you incorrectly identified objects. Your score: 57% Average score for men: 39% Average score for women: 46% What does your score suggest? If you scored between 0 - 33%: You may have more of a male brain. Scientists say men tend to under perform in thistask. The corpus callosum, the part of the brain that links the right and left hemispheres, is a fifth larger in women. This means women can process visual and other signals at the same time more easily than men. There is also a theory that oestrogen levels in women give them an added advantage in spatial memory. If you scored between 34 - 66%: You may have a balanced female-male brain. If youscored between 67 - 100%: Those with a female-type brain generally score in this range. Your ability to remember where objects are may serve as an advantage to you when you're trying to find your way around places. You're more capable of recalling landmarks to get from one place to another. Find out more about our spatial abilities.

back to top

Part 2 Hands
You said your left thumb was on...