Does your man forget everything you’ve told him? This may be why

HE may always forget to pick up that pint of milk on the way home, but don’t be too hard on the man in your life – scientists say it’s not his fault.

Research shows that men are worse than women at remembering to complete tasks.

Rather than simply not listening when asked to do something, it seems they actually forget what they were told in the first place.

The British and Italian researchers are not sure why females are so good at remembering to remember – but one possibility is the ability is honed when juggling the responsibilities of home and working life.

The study involved putting 100 men and women aged from 15 to 40 t hrough t ests which judged prospective memory, or remembering to carry out plans.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the further the event was in the future, the harder volunteers of both sexes found it to remember.

But the women tended to be better than the men at remembering to perform tasks linked to events, rather than to a specific time.

They also excelled at remembering plans that involved doing, rather than saying, something.

Researcher Liana Palermo, of Birmingham’s Aston University, said: ‘A real-life example of this would be, in a family, you would expect the woman to be the one to remember to buy some milk after work. Or she will remember to give a book back to a friend when she sees him next. She will be better at all of these kind of tasks than a man.’

Dr Palermo said the gender imbalance may be down to differences in hormones or brain struc- ture. Other research has shown that the brain’s memory hub shrinks in men, but not in women, between the ages of 20 and 40.

But there is some good news for chaps (and the fed-up ladies in their lives) – the study’s authors say prospective memory can be improved with practice.

Writing in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Dr Palermo said: ‘The sex differences we found could be due to the caretaking role often assumed by women and the fact that in addition to work responsibilities, women also have more responsi-

‘Men have one dimension’

bilities at home. As a consequence of this social role, in daily life women might perform tasks involving prospective memory more than men, enhancing their performance in remembering to remember.’

The researchers advised men to write ‘to do’ lists or set up online reminders.

Professor Sir Cary Cooper, a Manchester University psychologist, said the results are a consequence of family life, given that the brain is moulded by our experiences.

He said: ‘Women are managers of various domains. They are managing the family and their house and their career, plus their partner will still demand a lot of them. Whereas men are unidimensional. What do men do? They work. I don’t believe that there are many “new men”. Men are doing very little more than they were 20 years ago.

‘Our brain cells develop on the basis of the demands that hit us and women have a lot more to remember than men.’

He added that if men mucked in more wi t h housework a nd childcare, it may not be just their memory t hat benefits; t heir relationship with their children could also improve.