Gender differences in global advantage effect in school-aged children

This study investigated age and gender differences in global-local processing (the perception of parts forming a whole) in middle childhood. While there is a consensus on a global advantage effect regarding priority, speed, and accuracy of processing, its universality is debated. A Navon-type selective attention task with hierarchical stimuli was administered to 199 students aged 9 to 12 years. Repeated measures mixed ANCOVA with reaction times and accuracy scores showed that only boys exhibited a global advantage effect in speed, while girls demonstrated higher accuracy in both global and local conditions. A trade-off effect was suggested by a complementary analysis using Balanced Integration Score. An improvement with age was found regarding speed and overall performance, with no differential effect between hierarchical levels. These results are presented in the hopes of providing information on gender-specific challenges that can be mitigated through future interventions. •Global-local processing implies the integration of parts into a whole scene.•Global advantage effect may be affected by variables such as age and gender.•Reaction times and responses to local attributes develop during middle childhood.•Effects of gender were seen in responses to a global-local task.•Knowing about gender-specific challenges could promote strategies to reduce inequalities.