ABSTRACT
Girls learn to count at an earlier age than boys and differences between sexes are not apparent in primary school although during secondary schooling the boys draw ahead. To disentangle the influence of sex on learning is a most complex task as many studies appear to be contradictory. However, in general, it seems that there are sex differences in both ability and achievement and that not only do parents and teachers treat boys and girls differently but boys and girls, in their turn, respond differently to the same treatment. Such sex differences are often explained in terms of differential child-rearing practices or different expectations of children related to sex. In the 'traditional' school there were more clearly marked sex differences in intellectual performance and more sex appropriate activity in the playground. 'Stress' refers to changes in the external situation which are related to an objective danger whereas 'threat' refers to the individual's subjective internal appraisal that a situation is dangerous.
