Which Gender Has The Better Memory? I Forget??

She says: Once again as we visit the lighter side of To Kill A Mockingbird, I have to ask you if you agree with Calpurnia's statement upon discussion her age as it relates to Atticus:

"I'm older than Mr. Finch, even."  Calpurnia grinned.  "Not sure how much, though.  We started rememberin' one time, trying to figure out how old I was-I can remember back just a few years more'n he can, so I'm not much older, when you take off the fact that men can't remember as well as women."

I once read that the more emotion is associated with an event in one's life the more clearly you remember it.  If women are typically naturally more emotional creatures, does that mean we remember better than men?

He says: I never thought about it, Scout, so I decided to look it up!

This article in the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed journal, appears to confirm your point:

Psychological studies have found better memory in women than men for emotional events, but the neural basis for this difference is unknown.

This article piles it on:

According to Swedish psychologists Agneta Herlitz and Jenny Rehnman, women do in fact have a greater capacity to remember, showing strengths in episodic memory, a type of long-term memory based on personal experiences.

So, there we have it--looks like you and Calpurnia are right!