The BBC Brain Sex Test

[zdashamber]

Via follybard, the BBC's Brain Sex Test. I found it a bit grating that they called "poor spatial reasoning" a female trait: the studies I've seen say that the 60s studies that created that notion have been disproven. But hey, I came out right on their tests, so bully for that.

Your personal brain score: 50% female
Average score for MEN who've taken this survey: 50% male
Average score for WOMEN who've taken this survey: 50% female

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: 17 out of 20
Average score for men: 15.1 out of 20
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 a line 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 more mathematical 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.

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I wuz robbed, here: for one line, I clicked the corresponding line at exactly the moment it switched over to another, thus losing my shot at two lines. So I personally consider myself 19 of 20.

Anyway, I suspect this result means that my method of drawing from life does not work for most people. Remember in art class when they had you draw the grid over the picture and then draw another grid and draw the picture again within it? I work like that, sortof, in that when I'm drawing something that's really there I'm like, "Ok, the line of the top of the chair intersects the line of the top of the desk at this angle and this length relatively," etc. How do people who don't see angles draw from life?

Another thought: are these the same people who don't see vectors? Do they have trouble dodging through a crowd of moving people?

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Spot the difference

This task tested your ability to identify which objects changed position. You lost points, if you incorrectly identified objects.
Your score: 79%
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 this task. 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 you scored 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.

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Hah. When I was a baby, my mom did the _Kim_ thing with me; she'd show me a blanket full of my toys, and then cover it and remove one, and then have me pick out which was removed.

Or maybe it's genetic. Or maybe it's something I learned because I don't want book spines damaged by using bookmarks.

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Part 2

Hands

You said your left thumb was on top when you clasped your hands together.

Right thumb on top: This suggests the left half of your brain is dominant. Many studies have tried to establish whether there is a relationship between handedness and brain dominance. Some scientists believe that if you are left brain dominant, you would be more verbal and analytical.

Left thumb on top: This suggests the right half of your brain is dominant. Some studies theorise that as a right brain dominant person, you may excel in visual, spatial and intuitive processes.

However, these theories are debatable and leave much to be said about the small percentage of people who are ambidextrous.

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One of my genetics professors in college told us of a theory that handedness was based on a 50-50 chance gene. The mirror inversion of organs so loved among swashbucklers (Oho--his sword would have pierced my heart, save that my heart is on my right side!) is potentially the model, here. With a homozygous mutation, "build here!" signals are given to both sides of the developing body instead of just to the correct side, so it's random chance which one gets built on.

Likewise, the professor suggested that there is a gene for brain pattern and handedness that normally says "Right handed! Normal brain!". When someone gets two mutant copies, though, the signal is instead, "Fucked if I know! Go for it!" Thus lefties and ambidextrous people are the same people, just with their various preferences for what hand to use for what assigned by random chance.

I bet you money it's not that simple, given that there are upwards of 7 genes mentioned in the organ inversion articles above; but it does sound like a plausible factor.

This interesting little digression has as much to do with brain gender as the test above.

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Part 3

Emotions and Systems

This task looked at whether you prefer to empathise or systemise.
Empathising

Your empathy score is: 9 out of 20
Average score for men: 7.9 out of 20
Average score for women: 10.6 out of 20

What does your result suggest?

Empathisers are better at accurately judging other people's emotions and responding appropriately. If you scored 15 and above, you are very empathic and would be an ideal person to comfort people in a time of crisis. Women in general are better at empathising.

Systemising

Your systemising score is: 9 out of 20
Average score for men: 12.5 out of 20
Average score for women: 8.0 out of 20

What does your result suggest?

Systemisers prefer to investigate how systems work. A system can be a road map, flat pack furniture, or a mathematical equation – anything that follows a set of rules. A score of 15 and above suggests you're good at analysing or building systems. Men in general are better at systemising.

Scientists are keen to learn more about people who score high or low on both tests. They want to find out whether or not empathising and systemising are linked. Is a possible to make yourself more empathic?

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I dunno, is Risk a game of strategy, or a game of whether you're lucky enough to start with countries in South America, Australia, or Africa? I think we should investigate luckiness of dice rolling versus gender. /sarcasm

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Eyes

This task tested your ability to judge people's emotions.
Your score: 7 out of 10
Average score for men: 6.6 out of 10
Average score for women: 6.6 out of 10

What does your result suggest?

If you scored 0 - 3: Do you think you're good at judging how another person is feeling? Your score suggests this doesn't come to you quite so naturally.

If you scored 4 - 6: Your result suggests you have a balanced female-male brain and find it neither easy nor difficult to judge people's emotions.

If you scored 7 - 10: Your result suggests you are a good empathiser, sensitive to other people's emotions. Women generally fall into this category.

Professor Baron-Cohen at the University of Cambridge says that people usually perform better than they expect to on this test.

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This baffles me. Men average 6.6. Women average 6.6. And yet, empathy is supposed to differ between the genders. Facts be damned, everyone knows women are squishy!

Also, allow me from my position of great Deanna Troi-ness to translate their result matrix: "If you scored 0 - 3: Do you think you're good at judging how another person is feeling? Because you're totally not. At all. Dumbshit."

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Part 4

Fingers

We asked you to measure your ring and index fingers. Your ratios came to:
Right Hand: 1.01
Left Hand: 1

Average ratio for men: 0.982
Average ratio for women: 0.991

It's thought that your ratio is governed by the amount of testosterone you were exposed to in your mother's womb. The ratio of the length of your index finger to the length of your ring finger is set for life by as early as three months after conception. Even during puberty, when we experience intensive hormonal changes, the ratio stays the same.

Men generally have a ring finger that is longer than their index finger, which gives them a lower ratio than women, whose ring and index fingers are usually of equal length.

Studies have found that men and women with lots of brothers generally have more masculine finger ratios.

Part 5

Faces

This task looked at how you rate the attractiveness of a series of faces. The images you looked at were digitally altered to create slight differences in masculinity.

Your choices suggest you prefer more masculine faces.

Highly masculinised male faces possess more extreme testosterone markers such as a long, broad and lower jaw, as well as more pronounced brow ridges and cheekbones.

Interestingly, women's preferences are said to vary across the menstrual phase. A more masculine face is preferred during the 9 days prior to ovulation, when conception is most likely.

A typical 'attractive' female face possesses features such as a shorter, narrower, lower jaw, fuller lips and larger eyes than an average face.

Part 6

3D shapes

This task tested your ability to mentally rotate 3D shapes.

Your score: 8 out of 12
Average score for men: 8.2 out of 12
Average score for women: 7.1 out of 12

What does your result suggest?

If you scored 0 - 6: Do you find yourself having to physically rotate a map to point in the direction in which you're travelling? This might explain why you scored in the lower range in the 3D shapes test. Twice as many women as men score in this category. Previous studies suggest that those with a female-type brain or with an arts background fall into this range.

If you scored 7 - 9: In past studies, 50 per cent of the people who scored in this range were women and 50 per cent were men.

If you scored 10 - 12: Are you an engineer or do you have a science background? People with these skills tend to score in this range. Past studies have concluded that people in this range have a more male brain.

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I was in the process of clicking on the last one when the clock stopped. Ah, well. Do you 10-12 people find that you have an easy time packing boxes and cars? Were you with me in past lives when we ran caravans?

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Words

This task looked at your verbal fluency.

Your score: you associated 10 word(s) with grey and you named 11 word(s) that mean happy. We are assuming that all the words you entered are correct.
Average score for men: 11.4 words total
Average score for women: 12.4 words total

What does your result suggest?

If you produced 1 - 5 words: You are more of the strong, silent type with a male brain. You probably find it easier to express yourself in non-verbal ways, preferring action rather than words.

If you produced 6 - 10 words: Most people in this range have a female-type brain.

Women are said to use both sides of the brain when doing verbal tasks while men mainly use their left side. Studies have shown that girls develop vocabulary faster than boys. This difference in brain power is caused by levels of pre-natal testosterone.

Ultimatum


This task asked you how you would divide money.

If you had to split £50 with someone, you said you would demand £30

So far on the Sex ID test, men have demanded 51.6% (£25.80) of the pot and women have demanded 51.0% (£25.50), on average.

What does your response suggest?

Sex differences are small in this task. Demanding less than 60% of the pot (ie £30) is more typically female. Demanding more than 65% of the pot (ie £32.50) is more typically male.

Scientists believe that people with lower testosterone levels tend to take fewer risks so they are probably more willing to keep less for themselves. Those with higher testosterone levels tend to drive a harder bargain and are less compromising.

Men's testosterone levels fluctuate over the seasons and are at their lowest levels during the springtime. This is said to influence their bargaining power.

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Because how much money to ask for has nothing to do with socialization.

Conclusion: this test had several interesting components, but its results do not follow.

Comments

screwy

[miabarimen.livejournal.com]

I think this is screwed up. Because I also came out 50/50, and so did my sister-in-law. Normally you'd think there'd be some variability.

Neat Test

[(Anonymous)]

This is Mike Sullivan.

I think of myself as a very verbal person, but man did I flunk the words test at the end. I had like 7 words and 3 words.

I got 12 of 12 on the rotating shapes business. I pack cars AWESOMELY. You only wish you were like me.

The test mentions that most people think that they're going to do worse on the eyes test than they actually do. That was totally the case for me. I felt like I was totally clueless, and ended up 8/10.

The test says I'm a guy. I know that everyone's relieved.

Re: Neat Test

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

On the word test I was baffled by the way I had trouble associating stuff with "grey." "Happy" was nice in that there are both cheerful and cheery, joyful and joyous... I only missed "gay" for some reason.

I totally wish I was like you. It would be like being Superman. I could see through cars and structures into the compartments concealed within. I bet I could calculate the very pitch of the sound they would make as I collapsed them with one blow of my mighty fists of steel.

[jhkim.livejournal.com]

OK, some things that stuck out to me on the test:

1) The emotions and systematizing questions were often about self-labeling.

2) Why the heck is finger length measuring on a brain sex test?

3) The money division test suggests that the average difference between men and women is far less than the difference between French and Germans. Yet they still push the testosterone explanation for the trivial difference.

[zdashamber.livejournal.com]

Re: 3, good damn point! I see a book deal in my future: Men are from France, Women are from Germany.