However, this self-monitoring of one's own memory can be inaccurate. Often the validity of a memory and the confidence of the memory do not correlate. Currently, there exists a debate on whether there are sex differences concerning the accuracy of recall and confidence in memory. Persinger and Richards attributed more proficient linguistic processing of right handed women than right handed men to sexual dimorphism within the human brain. In women, there is a greater representation of language within the right hemisphere.
Women report more strategy use but greater anxiety in association with the memory task.
This experiment used visual stimuli, instead of verbal, to test men and women on their short term memory recall, recognition, and confidence scores. Participants viewed slides containing material predetermined to be masculine, feminine, or neutral. They were instructed to watch carefully, as they would be tested for detail later. The mean scores on each test were used to compare memory accuracy and confidence between men and women. Neither men nor women were expected to have significantly higher accuracy or confidence on questions concerning neutral stimuli.