Differences in the relationship of menstrual cycle phase to spatial performance on two- and three-dimensional tasks.

Inverse activational effects of estrogen on spatial problem-solving performance in females have been amply demonstrated, although the findings across studies are somewhat inconsistent. In an attempt to resolve this ambiguity, the present study compared activational effects, using phases of the menstrual cycle as the criteria for estrogen levels, on two- and three-dimensional spatial tasks. As predicted, menstrual cycle effects were obtained for the latter category only. Results were interpreted as a function of the greater ecological validity of three-dimensional tasks.