Mail & Guardian reporter
Boys may be about to lose the battle of the sexes, even in cyberspace. Up to now, evidence has mounted that boys are slipping behind girls in basic literacy, but show a natural talent with computers.
However, academics at the Open, Bournemouth and Hertfordshire universities, Britain, who studied the way 120 girls and boys used computers found that in computer games with “girly” images girls beat boys.
Previous studies have shown significant gender differences in computer performance, with boys being more positive about their skills.
This appeared to be borne out when the children were given a problem- solving computer game featuring pirates, ships and planes. Boys did more than twice as well as girls. But when the boys and girls were given an identical game featuring teddy bears, the gender difference was reversed.
Karen Littleton of the Open university’s psychology department said: “What we hope we have demonstrated is that where you see what looks like a deficit in performance, it may be because of the task children have been set.”
ENDS