Birth Order and Its Sequelae

Altus, William D.

doi:10.1126/science.151.3706.44

Cited by 248 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…As mentioned in the introduction, the stress level induced in the shallow, warm-water habitat was assumed on a priori bases to be significantly lower than that created in the more cramped habitat located at 200 feet in murky, cold water in SEALAB. Where stress levels are low or moderate, firstborns typically outperform later-borns (see Altus, 1966, for a review of such findings). The obtained result is, therefore, consistent wi"h previous birth order findings and confirms the assumption that extreme levels of stress were not induced by the TEKTITE environment.…”

Section: •5mentioning

confidence: 99%

The TEKTITE II Human Behavior Program

Helmreich¹

1971

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The habitst provides a relatively stable and constant environment. Unlike many field situations, all subjects could be observed under the same living conditions. This enable* statistical comparison across individuals and across team.3. The design of the habitat provides excellent audio and video coverage. Observers couid monitor almost all in-habitat activity.4. An ertensive battery of psychological data could be obtained on each Aquanaut prior to his miseion--an tmusual situation in field research. 5.The nAtural situation provided excellent objective criteria of performance ad vdJustment. These variables fora the criteria for prediction of individual reactions and the study of trends in behavior over time. Between four and six * thousand observations (depending on mission length) were taken on each of the criterion variables on each Aquanaut.Offsetting some of the desirable characteristics noted above are several disadvantages. The number of subjects (48) and missions (10) is relati ely small. A larger sample with more replications would give broader and more stable data. HUMAN BEHAVIOR PROGRAM page 3The TEKTITE habitat was fairly shallow and was located in warm, clear water; as a result, the stress levels were less extreme than those found in projects such as SEALAB II and III. The shallow depth also made it more difficult to maintain isolation. A larger sample of female Aquanauts and mized crews would have enabled better evaluation of the obtained results. Only additional research will show how veil the findings based on this sample of volunteer scientists and engineers will generalize to other situations and populations.Overall, however, the advantages clearly seem to outveigh the limitations of such research and the methodology developed should be applicable to many settings.Scope of the Report. Time and space limitations make it impossible to present more than a fraction of the data in this report. The concentrations here will be on a general description of some of the major findings. The areas to be emphasized will be (1) overall behavior in the habitat, (2) team and individual differences in reactions, (3) trends in behavior over time, (4) cr'ew composition and (5) prediction of behavior.Topics for Subsequent Analysis. It may be useful to list here aspects of the data which will be the subject of later analyses and will be reported in more detailed technical reports. II. Methodology James H. LeFan and Robert HelmreichThe University of Texas at AustinDate collection was conducted in four ways: (1) pre.-mission testing; (2) contit -ous observation of in-habitat behavior; (3) self-report questionnaires filled out dii]y by Aquanauts during their dive; and (4) structured debriefing of Aquanauts iLediately after decompression.Pre-Mission Testing. After arrival at the base camp, each Aquanaut was given a complete briefing on the scope and goals of the Behavior Program. The nature of data to .e collected and provisions to ensure the confidentiality of all responses were explained. Following the briefing, each A...

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Section: •5mentioning

confidence: 99%

The TEKTITE II Human Behavior Program

Helmreich¹

1971

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“…For example, first-, compared with later-born, children from middleclass American homes attain better grades in schools, are more often valedictorians of their high school class, and are more often listed in Who's Who in America (Altus 1966, Sampson & Hancock 1967, Sulloway 1996.…”

Section: Other Conditions Of Influencementioning

confidence: 99%

Biology, Context, and Developmental Inquiry

Kagan

2003

Annu. Rev. Psychol.

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This chapter summarizes some of the conceptual changes in developmental research over the last half-century. These advances include an acknowledgment of the role of maturation; also recognized have been the need for positing distinct psychological structures, the influence of temperament, the malleability of the infant, the role of the local context, and the dynamic nature of the categories describing human psychological types.

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“…Although some authors suggest that firstborns should be less creative than laterborns because firstborns tend to be more conservative, conventional, and conforming (e.g., Sulloway, 1996), others argue that the overrepresentation of firstborns among eminent individuals indicates their higher creativity (e.g., Altus, 1966;Schachter, 1963). Previous empirical work supports both positions with some studies showing that firstborns are less creative than laterborns (e.g., Eisenman, 1964;Seay, 1985;Staffieri, 1970) and some providing evidence that firstborns are more creative than laterborns (e.g., Eisenman, 1987;Eisenman & Schussel, 1970;Lichtenwalner & Maxwell, 1969;Schubert, Wagner, & Schubert, 1977).…”

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