The present meta-analysis aimed to quantify sex differences in verbal working memory and to examine potential moderators of these differences. We examined 802 effect sizes from 478 samples in 284 studies in a multilevel meta-analysis. Results revealed a small overall female advantage (g = .028, 95% CI [.006, .050]). In the overall sample, results showed that sex differences differed across tasks. Specifically, the female advantage was significant for cued tasks (g = .079, 95% CI [.030, .128]) and Free Recall tasks (g = .145, 95% CI [.102, .188]) whereas there was a male advantage on Complex Span (g = -.042, 95% CI [-.083, -.002]), and no sex differences on Serial Recall (g = .003, 95% CI [-.055, .050]), and Simple Span tasks (g < .001, 95% CI [-.034, .033]). Within each task, we found that recall direction, stimulus type, presentation format, response format, and age accounted for significant variance in at least 1 of the tasks. Analyses provided no evidence of a publication bias, although the female advantage varied as a function of sample source, whether the title made reference to sex, and whether authors had to be contacted to obtain relevant data. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for sex differences in episodic memory and in the context of clinical applications and theory building. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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言语工作记忆的性别差异：系统评价和荟萃分析。

本荟萃分析旨在量化言语工作记忆中的性别差异，并检查这些差异的潜在调节因素。我们在多级荟萃分析中检查了 284 项研究中 478 个样本的 802 个效应量。结果显示女性总体优势很小（g = .028, 95% CI [.006, .050]）。在整个样本中，结果显示性别差异因任务而异。具体来说，女性的优势对于线索任务 (g = .079, 95% CI [.030, .128]) 和自由回忆任务 (g = .145, 95% CI [.102, .188]) 而在复杂跨度（g = -.042, 95% CI [-.083, -.002]）上是男性的优势，并且在Serial Recall上没有性别差异（g = .003, 95% CI [-.055, . 050]) 和简单跨度任务 (g < .001, 95% CI [-.034, .033])。在每项任务中，我们发现回忆方向、刺激类型、呈现形式、响应格式和年龄至少在其中一项任务中造成了显着差异。分析没有提供发表偏倚的证据，尽管女性优势因样本来源、标题是否提及性别以及是否必须联系作者以获取相关数据而异。结果根据它们对情景记忆中的性别差异的影响以及在临床应用和理论构建的背景下进行讨论。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。结果根据它们对情景记忆中性别差异的影响以及在临床应用和理论构建的背景下进行讨论。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。结果根据它们对情景记忆中性别差异的影响以及在临床应用和理论构建的背景下进行讨论。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。