Spatial Memory and Symptoms of Neuroticism: Gender Differences in a Spatial Task

Abstract

This study was an attempt to investigate the relationship between spatial memory and Symptoms of Neuroticism in men and women visitors of a flower garden. The participants were chosen by an available sampling method among people who visited flower garden, located in Isfahan, Iran in October 2016. Subjects (woman=36, man=24) were asked to specify approximate locations of eight sites in the flower Garden on the incomplete map of flower garden after visiting the garden. Then, the subjects filled a demographic questionnaire and a short form of Eysenck introversion-extraversion questionnaire. The results showed that the means of spatial memory in men are significantly more than those of women (F= 11.46, p<0.05) and also, neuroticism in men is significantly less than that in women (F=7.22, P<0.05). Furthermore, positive relationship between age and spatial memory (r= 0.41, p<0.01) and negative relationship between neuroticism and spatial memory have been discovered (r= -0.59, p<0.01). According to the results, it can be concluded that neuroticism avoids paying attention to the environment and it causes memory function slump.