First borns only please

complicated thread...

[walkman]

"...firstborns do indeed turn out sharper than their brothers and sisters, no matter how parents try to compensate...The difference in I.Q. was small—an average of three points higher in the oldest child than in the next sibling—but the researchers consider it significant."

"...Soon to be published in the journal Intelligence, it’s similar to the Science study except for one key factor: instead of comparing Bill to Bob, it compares Bill to his younger brothers Barry and Barney. The same birth-order pattern shows up: the firstborns, on average, score about three points higher than their secondborn brothers, and hapless thirdborns do even worse."

[msnbc.msn.com...]

[rocknbil]

Funny you'd say Bill. :-) I lived most of my life as the firstborn, then when I was 38 discovered I had an older sister - my mother had to put the real firstborn up for adoption. All of a sudden I lost 3 IQ points. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

[jatar_k]

don't tell my younger sisters and brother

well, I guess it won't matter since they aren't smart enough to figure it out ;)

[DrDoc]

Researchers also found that the increase in IQ increases significantly the further apart the siblings are. The ideal distance in age is 5 years or more.

Oh, me? I'm the oldest ... 6 years between me and the next one ...

[edited by: DrDoc at 3:07 am (utc) on June 23, 2007]

[Visit Thailand]

You mean you didn't know this! I have been telling my siblings this for years.....

[walkman]

thank god mine are smart enough to know who is the man. A few more years in age difference I would have needed to tell them

[callivert]

First up, it makes sense. First borns have virtually unlimited resources, which will aid their development. Second-borns don't, resources in every respect are tighter, from parental attention, to parental ability to provide activities, monitor routines, help with sleep, skill learning, etc.

Second up, these studies are often reporting very small effects. What's the effect size? I haven't read the study but I'm betting it's tiny.

Third, there are a stack of things that affect intelligence, probably A LOT more than birth order. Good nutrition, "unstructured play", breast feeding, stable home environment, genetics (whoo I said it, but yes its true, sorry), and socio-economic status all play a part.

Forth, intelligence has nothing to do with integrity, motivation, emotional intelligence, honesty, creativity, physical health, extroversion, conscientiousness, mental health, agreeableness, beauty, or many other things.

So, in a nutshell, it's probably a very small impact on the overall life of a child, and there's no mystery about what's probably causing it.

[King_Fisher]

Hmmmm...Thats funny I always thought my older brother, (1st born). was
dumber than stump water. I am going to ask the home to re-evaluate him! KF

[BeeDeeDubbleU]

Where I come from it doesn't really matter. We eat our first born.

only joking ... honest! ;o)

[walkman]

BeeDeeDubbleU,
disgusting behaviour--unless you roast them first. :)