Electrical brain activity (EEG) was recorded while 13 male and 11 female college students performed a series of recognition and memory tasks. The subjects were right-handed and between 21 and 42 years old. The selected tasks varied in cognitive load from simple recognition of a word flashed on a computer screen to relatively complex serial and word-categorization learning and recall tasks. Topographic Brain Imaging (TBI)--computer generated images of EEG activity across the cerebral cortex of the brain--coupled with discriminate analysis of EEG activity showed clear gender differences in patterns of EEG activity for each of the acquisition tasks. Gender differences were also obtained with the recall data generated from the serial learning task, which indicated that the men recalled significantly more words than did the women. The results are discussed in terms of possible differential strategy use by the sexes during the performance of the tasks. Further, the use of TBI in future cognitive and educational research is explored. Fourteen topographical maps illustrate the cerebral sites at which word detection, single category memory, and serial order memory occur for the male and female subjects. (Author/TJH)