Sex Differences in Spatial Abilities: Evolutionary Theory and Data.

This post occupancy research is an attempt to analyze the design of an architecture school using a cognitive map tool. Fifty male and female architecture students purposively recruited from Kerman Islamic Azad University to participate in this study. Participants were asked to draw a sketch map depict all places they recall in their faculty and identify them with the names. Following the drawings, a series of interviews were conducted to understand the students’ rationales behind their drawings and to uncover navigational problems of spatial designs. Data were analyzed qualitatively with specific focus on the absence or presence of spaces and their sizes. The qualitative data was supplemented by quantitative data to have a better interpretation of meaning by looking at qualitative data from a quantitative angle. Results showed that the accuracy in drawings significantly increased the longer students spent time in the faculty and the more they got familiar with the places. The analysis of cognitive maps revealed that the absence or presence of some spaces in the sketch maps and their sizes corresponds to the functional importance of spaces, their locations, zoning, accessibility and their size in relation to their functions. Results suggest that men and women did not differ in the accuracy of their cognitive maps. However, for navigation, males used information about directions for navigation, whereas females employed a landmark-based strategy. Architect planners can take advantages of these findings to create distinctively and well used buildings. The results of the study has implication for those who are interested in navigational behaviours of the space users.