Sex differences in verbal skills: Use of spelling-sound and lexical information

An experiment is described in which possible sex differences in lexical and phonological skills were investigated. A spelling test was used which could not be done on a phonological basis alone and which entailed lexical access for good performance. Women were judged on the evidence for this task to have better lexical ability than men, but no difference was found on a task designed to tap knowledge and use of phonological information in the form of spelling-sound correspondences.