Sex Differences in Processing Movement vs Objects Figure 6. Data shown in the upper panel are the mean target error (±SEM) for targeting tested alone and under dual attention conditions. Data in the lower panels are the percentage of correct responses (6SEM) for color recognition tested alone and under dual attention conditions. Data shown are for the 15 males and 17 females tested first for color and targeting alone, followed by the dual attention condition (Experiment 4). *p,0.05 from males in the target or color alone condition. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0032238.g006 The origin of these sex differences in targeting and color recognition is unknown, as well as how they relate to sex differences in higher level tasks. While there is an extensive literature in animals and humans pointing to a phenotypic influence of androgens on the development of cognitive abilities related to spatial and movement processing, it sheds little light on how steroid actions influence the processing of objects. Because ventral and dorsal stream processing are innately tied to perceptual processing, as well as the fact that cortical androgen receptors are present during development, it might be speculated that a biological influence on the development of one reciprocally influences the development of the other. However, the picture is undoubtedly more complex since social and cultural influences related to sex role expectations also contribute to the expression of human cognitive sex differences [61]. Methods Participants Right-handed undergraduate students from San Diego State University were granted class credit or given a $5 Starbucks card for their participation. A demographic questionnaire that included information about current medications, handedness, and medical history was used to exclude participants with history of head injury, attention deficit disorder, medications that could impair attention, or neurological conditions. The age of participants ranged from 18–26. Total number of participants was 141 (74 females, 67 males). All procedures were reviewed and approved by The Committee on Protection of Human Subjects at San Diego State University. PLoS ONE | www.plosone.org 9 March 2012 | Volume 7 | Issue 3 | e32238