Sex differences and gender bias on memory tests in older adults.

Women outperformed men on memory tests including the FNAME-12.

• Cognitively normal participants (n = 452) completed cognitive tests including FNAME-12 at baseline (aged approximately 70 years) and follow-up (aged approximately 73 years).
• The female advantage was observed across multiple memory tests, not just FNAME-12.
• This finding is consistent with the general literature indicating females typically perform slightly better than males on memory tests.

Both men and women recalled more male than female stimuli on the FNAME-12, with the discrepancy being two to three times greater among men.

• At baseline, the effect size for recalling more male than female stimuli was d = 0.52 for men and d = 0.15 for women.
• At follow-up, the effect size for this discrepancy was d = 0.58 for men and d = 0.25 for women.
• The male stimulus recall advantage was consistently larger in male participants across both time points.
• FNAME-12 stimuli comprise male and female faces, with associated names and occupations, tested with delays of up to 7 days.

Seven-day retention rates for male stimuli were higher than for female stimuli across participants.

• The effect size for higher retention of male stimuli at seven days was d = 0.32 for recall.
• The effect size for higher retention of male stimuli at seven days was d = 0.41 for recognition.
• These retention differences applied to the overall sample across both sexes.

Individual 'gender bias scores' showed weak to moderate consistency over approximately 2.5 years.

• Gender bias scores were computed at both baseline and follow-up assessments.
• Baseline and follow-up gender bias scores were weakly to moderately correlated.
• The follow-up assessment occurred approximately 2.5 years after baseline.
• This suggests some trait-like stability in individual tendencies to show gender-congruent memory bias.

Gender-related bias in remembering test content may partially explain observed sex differences in memory test performance.

• The FNAME-12 is a test designed to detect subtle Alzheimer's disease-related memory impairment.
• The authors note that sex/gender-related differences are underexplored on such tests.
• The observed bias—particularly among male participants toward male stimuli—raises questions about interpretation of female advantages on memory tests.
• The authors conclude that 'sex differences on memory tests require careful interpretation, as they may be partially explained by gender-related bias in the learning and recall of test content.'