Are boys better than girls at building a tower or a bridge at 2 years of age?
Clinique du Tertre Rouge, Department of Neonatology,
Le Mans 72100, France
Correspondence to: Dr J C Labarthe, 4 place Adrien Tironneau, Le Mans, 72100 France.
Accepted 23 April
1997
This study was designed to look at the differences in
visuospatial abilities between boys and girls before they can speak fluently. At the mandatory two year follow up visit, children were
given the opportunity to build a tower and a bridge. In children whose
birth weight was 
2500 g, the capacity for erecting a tower was the
same in both sexes, but for building a bridge striking differences were
noted according to their sex. Among the 376 children of this category,
41 out of 199 boys (21%) were able to build a bridge in comparison
with 15 out of 177 girls (8%). This difference is highly significant.
In children whose birth weight was 
2500 g, no differences were
noted either for building a tower or a bridge. By showing that boys
outnumber girls among the most skilled toddlers in spatial abilities,
this work confirmed the action of a male related factor on cerebral lateralisation.
© 1997 by Archives of Disease in Childhood
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