Parsimony in Intuitive Explanations for Behavior: Reconciling the Discounting Principle and Preference for Conjunctive Explanations

Age and gender differences were examined using the new Spatial Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (SSEQ) and the Misplaced Objects Test (MOT) for location recall. Analysis of the MOT scores revealed significant age differences with younger adults performing better than older adults. Women performed better than men did, but despite higher scores, the women showed consistently lower self-efficacy than the men. Analyses of the SSEQ measures revealed significant differences as a function of age and gender, with men showing greater spatial memory self-efficacy than women, and older adults showing less self-efficacy than younger adults. Analyses of congruence (accuracy of SSEQ responses relative to MOT scores) revealed that older adults and men tended to overestimate their ability to remember object locations. Explanations for these findings are based on self-efficacy theory, in particular, the possible influence of gender socialization on beliefs about ability.