talbotlucas.org: a word to the wise is sufficient

Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily I came across an article in the Guardian Unlimited (UK) about a new self-administered test to ascertain whether one has a "female" brain or a "male" brain. The measurement is based on responses to two tests: one which measures your empathizing quotient; the other measures your systemizing quotient. As the article notes, women tend toward the empathizing side of the scale, and men toward the systemizing side, and tend toward these sides due to biological (particularly hormonal) factors.

For whatever these tests are worth, I find the types of questions they pose interesting. Also interesting, at least to me, is that over the years I've consistently scored slightly higher on what is traditionally the male or analytic component of the standardized tests I've taken (the SAT and the ACT). On the Baron-Cohen brain type test I scored a 51 on empathizing and 42 on systemizing, which charts out to the high end of the balanced range or the low end of systemizing range, depending on how carefully you squint at the intersection of the two scores on the grid. The numbers themselves don't reflect the balance, but after each test you're told where your score fits into typical ranges. For example, the average systemizing score for women is 24; for men it's 30. Scoring 42, then, is high in comparison...no worries, though; I still run in the opposite direction when I see an integral sign (∫). Brings back bad memories of being placed in a too-advanced calculus class at the University of Chicago. But moving on...

The test can be accessed here; if you use the Flash version (rather than printing out a copy of the test on paper) you can proceed through both segments of the test quite easily. Note your scores on each part, then look at where they place you on the grid (which is accessible via a link at the bottom of the test window after you've taken the test).

Update 9 May 2003: Terrence's scores: 33 on empathizing; 49 (!) on systemizing.