To test the link to children's scores on the College Board's Scholastic Assessment Test, Mark Brosnan [of the psychology department at England's University of Bath] and his associates made photocopies of children's palms and measured the length of their index and ring fingers using calipers accurate to 0.01 millimeters. They used the finger-length ratios as a proxy for the levels of testosterone and estrogen exposure.Source: Xinhua
The researchers then looked at boys' and girls' test performances separately and compared them to finger-length ratio measurements. They found a clear link between high prenatal testosterone exposure, indicated by the longer index finger compared to the ring finger, and higher scores on the math SAT.
Similarly, they found higher literacy SAT scores for the girls among those who had lower prenatal testosterone exposure, as indicated by a shorter ring finger compared with the index finger.
The researchers also compared the finger-lengths ratios to all the children's SAT scores and found a relatively longer ring finger -- indicating greater prenatal exposure to testosterone --meant a wider gap in scores for math versus literacy (writing and critical reading).
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