Do women remember better than men do? Research shows that females may have an advantage when it comes to episodic memory, a type of long-term memory based on personal experiences. A Swedish team of psychologists showed, for example, that women are better on average than men at remembering faces, particularly female faces. These findings may have an evolutionary explanation that is rooted in female-female competition, says David C. Geary, a psychologist at the University of Missouri–Columbia who was not involved with the study. “Women certainly fought and continue to fight over the best guys ... those with good genes and resources to invest in kids,” Geary says. Remembering details of personal experiences is important for monitoring and maneuvering relationships, including disrupting the social and romantic ties of other women who are competitors, he says. Previous studies have shown that women also have a superior memory for verbal information, which they may use to dissect a person’s underlying motives or intentions—a skill that, according to Geary, “seems to elude many men.”

This story was originally printed with the title, "She Never Forgets a Face".

4 Comments

1. 1. CheriSimon 02:33 PM 5/29/08

   Makes sense to me. Heck I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning. LOL
   
   JJ
   www.Privacy-Center.net

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2. 2. H G Wilson 03:38 AM 5/30/08

   David C. Geary makes a comment that has more derivation from Spencer than Darwin. This is a typically "dispassionate" North American social darwinist view based on the appalling social inequalities of that society. These views, commonly held among the middle class elite, have nothing to earn from the rest of humanity but immediate contempt. If this seems unbelievable to the average (American) reader, try spouting such nonsense outside the North American continent and note the response.

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3. 3. GenderPop 01:01 AM 5/31/08

   David Geary had nothing to do with the study, and yet his incredibly biased interpretation of the study is taken seriously by SA. It's indicative of the media's mangling of science in order to get a catchy pullquote. That a better memory for faces somehow equals an inherent female tendency for sabotage is utter tripe.

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4. 4. KR in reply to H G Wilson 04:59 AM 7/9/08

   Nice to know Wilson that you have studied the intricacies of inequality in North America, oh wait like a typical arrogant moron, you are just spouting off uneducated BS.

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