Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Isfahan, Iran

2 Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Naein Branch, Naein, Iran

3 Department of Islamic Architecture, Imam Reza International University, Mashhad, Iran

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.

Keywords

Afshan, A., Askari, I., & Manickam, L. S. (2015). Shyness, Self-construal, Extraversion-Introversion, Neuroticism, and psychoticism: A cross-cultural comparison among college students. Sage Open Journal, 1-8.
Anderson, N. E., Dahmani, L., Konishi, K., & Bohbot, V. D. (2011). Eye tracking, strategies, and sex differences in virtual navigation. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Journal. 97, 81-89.
Barret-connor, E., & Kritz-Silverstein, D. (1999). Gender differences in cognitive function with age: The Rancho Bernardo study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 47, 159-164.
Barnes, L. L., Wilson, R. S., Schneider, J. A., Bienias, J. L., Evans, D. A., & Bennett, D. A. (2003). Gender, cognitive decline, and risk of AD in older persons. Neurology, 60, 1777-1781.
Biaban Gard, E. (1991) exploring relationship between control source, self-steam and educational progress of high school boys of Tehran. Master ̛s thesis Alame Tabatabayi University.
 Catherine, M. J., & Healy,D. (2006). Differences in cue use and spatial memory in men and women. The Royal Society Publishing,. 273, 2241-2247.
Costa, P. T. Jr., Terracciano, A., & McCrae, R. R. (2001). Gender differences in personality traits across cultures: robust and surprising findings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,81, 322–331.
Dabbs, J. M., Chang, E.L., Strong, R.A., & Milun, R. (1998). Spatial ability, navigation strategy, and geographic knowledge among men and women. Evolution and Human Behavior, 19, 89-98.
Eals, M., & Silverman, I. (1994). The hunter- gatherer theory of spatial sex-differences proximate factors mediating the female advantage in recall of object arrays. Ethology and Sociobiology, 15, 95-105.
Ecuyer-Dab, I., & Robert, M. (2004). Have sex differences in spatial ability evolved from male competition for mating and female concern for survival? Cognition Journal, 91, 221-257.
Eysenck, S. B. G., Eysenck, H. J., & Barrett, P. (1985). A revised version of the psychoticism scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 6, 21-29.
Fausto-Sterling, A. (2012). Sex/Gender: Biology in a Social World. NY: Routledge.
Feingold, A. (1994). Gender differences in personality: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin Journal, 116, 429–456.
Francis, L. J., Lewis, C. A., & Ziebertz, H. G. (2006). The short form Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQR-S): A German edition. Social Behavior and Personality, 34, 197-204.
Geary, D. C. (1995). Sexual selection and sex differences in spatial cognition. Learning and Individual Differences Journal, 7, 289-301.
Google (2016). Google maps and aerial photo of flowers garden, located in Isfahan, Iran. Retrieved September 5, 2016, from https://maps.app.goo.gl/dJMkjT3AQux FVc887.
Graham, E. K., & Lachman, M. E. (2012). Personality Stability Is Associated With Better Cognitive Performance in Adulthood: Are the Stable More Able? The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 67(5), 545-554.
Gron, G., Wunderlich, A. P., Spitzer, M., Tomczak, R., & Riepe, M. W. (2000). Brain activation during human navigation: Gender-different neural networks as subtracted of performance. Nature Neuroscience Journal, 3, 404-408.
Halpern, D. F. (2011). Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities (4th Edition). NY: Psychology Press.
Hecht, H., Welsch, R., Viehoff, J., & Lango, M., R. (2019). The shape of personal space. Acta Psychologica Journal, 193, 113-122.
Jancke, L. (2018). Sex/gender differences in cognition, neurophysiology, and neuroanatomy. F1000 Journal, 7, 1-10.
Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 16, 169-182.
Kinrys, G., & Wygant, L.E. (2005). Anxiety disorders in women: does gender matter to treatment? Rev Bars Psiquiatr, 27 (supl II), 43-50.
Lippa, R. A. (2009). Gender, nature, and nurture. NY: LEA. 
Maitland, S.B., Intrieri, R. C., Sehaie, K.W., & Willis, S.L. (2000). Gender differences and changes in cognitive abilities across the adult life span. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition Journal, 7, 32-53.
Matthews, G., & Deary, I. J. (1998). Personality traits. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Meinz, E. J., & Salthouse, T.A. (1998). Is age kinder, to females than to males? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 5, 56-70.
Meyer, J. S., Rauch, G.M., Crawford, K., Rauch, R.A., Konno, S., Akiyama, H., et al. (1999). Risk factors accelerating cerebral degenerative changes, cognitive decline and dementia. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Abbreviation, 14(12),1050-61.
Montello, D.R, Lovelace, K. L., Colledge, R. G., & Self, C. M. (1999). Sex related differences and similarities in geographic and environmental spatial abilities. Annals of the association of American Geographers, 89, 515-534.
Moon, Y., Jo, H., Kim, J., & Ryu, J. (2016). Exploring Gender Differences in Spatial Orientation Ability on Representing Cognitive Maps. International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Science, 6(2), 91-98.
Ormel, J., Jeronimus, B.F., Kotov, M., Riese, H., Bos, E.H., & Hankin, B. (2013). Neuroticism and common mental disorders: Meaning and utility of a complex relationship. Clinical Psychology Review. 33 (5), 686–697.
Perkins, A. M., & Corr, P. J. (2005). Cognitive ability as a buffer to neuroticism. Personality and Individual Differences. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 25–31.
Peters, R. (2006). Ageing and the brain. Postgrad Med Journal, 82(964), 84–88.
Prince, M., Lewis, G., Bird, A., Blizard, R., & Mann, A. (1996). A longitudinal study of factors predicting change in cognitive test scores over time, in an older hypertensive population. Psychological Medicine, 26, 555-568.
Rowe, G., Turcotte, J., & Hasher, L. (2004). The effect of age and gender on visuo-spatial working memory. Paper presented at the 10th Cognitive Aging Conference. Atlanta, GA.
Sandstrom, N. J., Kaufman, J., & Huettel, S.A. (1998). Males and females use different distal cues in a virtual environment navigation task. Cognitive Brain Research, 6, 351-360.
Saucier, D. M., Green, S. M., Leason, J., MacFadden, A., Bell, S., & Elias, L. J. (2002). Are sex differences in navigation caused by sexually dimorphic strategies or by differences in the ability to use the strategies? Behavioral Neuroscience Journal, 116, 403-410.
Sherry, F. D., & Hampson, E. (1997). Evolution and the hormonal control of sexually dimorphic spatial abilities in humans. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 1, 50-56.
Sandamas, G., & Foreman, N. (2014). Spatial Demands of Concurrent Task can Compromise Spatial Learning of a Virtual Environments: Implication for Active Input Control. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 9(14),96-108.
Singer, T., verhaeghen, P., Ghisletta, P., Lindenberger, U., & Baltes, P. B. (2003). The fate of cognition in very old age. Six-year longitudinal findings in the Berli Aging Study (BASE). Psychology and Aging Journal. 18, 318-331.
Sneider, J. T., Hamilton, D. A., Cohen-Gilbert, J. E., Crowely, D. J., Rosso, H. M., & Silveri, M. (2015). Sex differences in spatial navigation and perception in human adolescents and emerging adults. Behavioral Processes Journal, 111, 42-50.
Spencer, C. X., & Weetman, M. (1981). The microgenesis of cognitive maps – a longitudinal study of new residents of an urban area. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 6, 375-384.
Steg, L. (2004). Environmental psychology. The British Psychological society.
Studer-Luethi, B., Bauer, C., & Perrig, W. J. (2012). Neuroticism affects working memory and training performance in regularly developed school children. nternational Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education (IJCDSE), 3(1).
Thompson, E.R. (2008). Development and Validation of an International English Big-Five Mini-Markers. Personality and Individual Differences, 45 (6), 542–548.
Wang, CH., Chen, Y., Zheng, SH., & Liao, H. (2019). Gender and age differences in using indoor maps for wayfinding in real environments. International Journal of Geo-information, 8(11), 1-20.
eisberg, Y. J., DeYoung, C. G., & Hirsh, J. B. (2011). Gender differences in personality across the ten aspects of the big five. Frontiers in Psychology Journal, 2, 17-28.
Wizemann, T.M., & Pardue, M. L. (2001). Committee on understanding the biological contributions to human health: Does sex matter? Washington: National Academy Press.