Birth order and scholastic aptitude.

Altus, William D.

doi:10.1037/h0022158

Cited by 43 publications

(24 citation statements)

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“…There is some evidence to support the idea that the lack of an opportunity to teach may have a detrimental effect on intellectual development (Allen, 1976;Allen & Feldman, 1974;Devin-Sheehan, Feldman & Allen, 1976). Relatively low intelligence scores for last borns and only children have been observed in a number of studies (Altus, 1965;Belmont & Marolla, 1973;Breland, 1974).…”

Section: Features Of the Confluence Modelmentioning

confidence: 91%

Family configuration and intellectual development: A simulation

Markus

Zajonc

1977

Syst. Res.

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A simulation based on the recently published confluence model is described. Within this model, family configuration variables -family size, order of birth, and length of birth intervals-play an important role in influencing intellectual development. The simulation is shown to achieve a close fit with national aggregate patterns of intelligence test scores for children of different family configurations. In addition, it is demonstrated that dissimilar aggregate profiles may be consistent with a common underlying model. The apparent differences may be due to systematic variations in the ages and birth intervals of sample members. G+=wo RECENTLY published articles out-T lined a confluence model which sought to explain empirical patterns of relationship between measures of intellectual ability and such family configuration variables as birth order, family size, and sibling birth intervals (Zajonc & Markus, 1975;Zajonc, 1976). The first of those articles reviewed the literature on this topic, focusing especially on the results of a study by Belmont and Marolla (1973). The first article suggested a model to account for the negative correlation which has been repeatedly found between family size and scores on various tests of intelligence, the variable effects of birth order and interbirth spacing on these scores, and certain other systematic contours in the data. The second article demonstrated that regional, ethnic, national, and temporal differences in intellectual test performance are, to a significant degree, associated with differences in family configurations in a manner consistent with a confluence model of intellectual development.The purpose of the present paper is to describe the results of a simulation of in- tellectual development based on the ideas underlying the confluence model. The simulation represents an advance over prior evaluations of the model in that it yields numerical predictions of the relative intellectual levels associated with different family configurations. These predictions are compared with existing data to determine the goodness of fit of the simulation. FEATURES OF THE CONFLUENCE MODELThe confluence model is based on the assumption that cognitive growth is influenced by the quality of an individual's immediate intellectual environment, primarily that of the family. For operational purposes, that environment is conceived to be a function of an average (not necessarily the arithmetic mean) of the absolute intellecutal levels of all family members, including the individual himself. The intellectual levels referred to are not to be confused with IQ, which is a quantity standardized relative to age, but rather are absolute quantities such as mental age.Over time, the intellectual environment changes as family members mature. It is liable to change most dramatically when new children are born into the family.Wright is thanked for his comments on an earlier draft.

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Section: Features Of the Confluence Modelmentioning

confidence: 91%

Family configuration and intellectual development: A simulation

Markus

Zajonc

1977

Syst. Res.

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“…The literature regarding the effects of ordinal position on intellectual activities is inconsistent, with some studies emphasizing the superiority of the first born (Altus, 1962;Koch, 1954;Terman, 1947) and some the superiority of the second born (Hsiao, 1931;McFadden, 1929;Thurstone & Jenkins, 1929). Except for Koch's study with six-year-olds, there has been no control for age, socia-economic status, or family size.…”

Section: Probledlmentioning

confidence: 99%

The relationship of ordinal position and sibling sex status to cognitive abilities

Rosenberg

Sutton‐Smith

1964

Psychon Sci

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The influence of the interaction of ordinal position and sibling sex status on cognitive activity was examined. Results generally confirm the superiority of the first born over the second born on cognitive activity. Directional trends suggest that the presence of a male sibling enhances quantitative scores, the presence of a female enhances language scores, males having a greater effect on females than vice versa. ProbleDlThe literature regarding the effects of ordinal position on intellectual activities is inconsistent, with some studies emphasizing the superiority of the first born (Altus, 1962;Koch, 1954;Terman, 1947) and some the superiority of the second born (Hsiao, 1931;McFadden, 1929;Thurstone & Jenkins, 1929). Except for Koch's study with six-year-olds, there has been no control for age, socia-economic status, or family size. The present study replicates Koch's work with the eight different sibling combinations in two-child families in order to examine the effects of ordinal position, sex of subject, and sex of sibling (sibling sex status) on cognitive activity using adult Ss with controls for age and socioeconomic status. MethodData on the ACE (Berdie et al., 1961) was obtained for 125 male and 252 female members of two-child families (college sophomores, predominantly). The sample contained 32 M1M, 25 MM2, 37 M1F, 31 FM2, and 70 F1F, 61 FF2, 68 F1M, and 53 MF2. The notation states the sex and pOSition referent with the number following the S and indicating his ordinal position. Thus, MM2 is a second-born male with an older brother, F1Fisa firstborn female with a younger sister, etc. These groups did not differ in age by sex or ordinal position (median for all groups was 19 yr.), and 95% of all ordinal groups were in the 18-20-yr. age range. There was no significant difference between the groups when compared on a manual, non-manual socio-economic break. The ACE was routinely administered to all Ss as part of a test battery taken by all entering freshmen. These scores were obtained from the University Counseling Center. ResultsSince all of the data were presented in percentile form, the Median Test (Siegel, 1956) was used throughout the analysis. In addition, as a reflection of the malequantitative, female-linguistic adherence, Q > Land L > Q ratios are included. B. G. Rosenberg and B. Sutton-SDllth BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY(X2 = 2.58; P = .12), while females are superior on the L (linguistic) scale (X2 = 7.70; P = .01). No significant differences were obtained on the T (total) score. The Q > L ratios favor males, while the L > Q ratios favor females (X2 = 9.24; P = .01). When comparing first borns with second barns separately by sex, male first borns are superior to male second borns on the L (P = .05) and T (P = .02) scales. No significant differences obtained among the females, first born females showing a slight superiority on the L scale (P = .12). First born males show a slight predominance on the L > Q ratios (P = .20), while second born females show a predominance on the Q > L rat...

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“…Only those reviews by Altus and by Schachter argued strongly for the existence of a relationship (that earlyborn, and especially firstborn, have higher achievement). Altus (1965) suggested that the observed relationship was due to a verbal factor. Most of the other reviewers indicate that little evidence exists for a relation ship between birth order and intelligence or other achievement indicators.…”

Section: Educational Testing Servicementioning

confidence: 99%

Birth Order, Family Configuration and Verbal Achievement1

Breland

1972

ETS Research Bulletin Series

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Two samples of National Merit Scholarship participants tested in 1962 and the entire population of almost 800,000 participants tested in 1965 were examined. Consistent effects in all three groups were observed with respect to both birth order and family size (firstborn and those of smaller families scoring higher). Control of both socioeconomic variables and mother's age (by analysis of variance as well as by analysis of covariance) failed to alter the relationships. Step‐down analyses suggested that the effects were due to a verbal component and that no differences were attributable to nonverbal factors. Detailed sibship configurations based on birth order, family size, sibling spacing, and sibling sex were developed for both sexes. The resulting 82 different sibship configurations were ranked by test score means. A rank‐order correlation between sexes yielded a very high value of .96, and a high correlation was shown to persist within family size.

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Birth order and scholastic aptitude.

Cited by 43 publications

References 7 publications

Family configuration and intellectual development: A simulation

Family configuration and intellectual development: A simulation

The relationship of ordinal position and sibling sex status to cognitive abilities

Birth Order, Family Configuration and Verbal Achievement1

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