It's all over the news that a study based on the I.Q. scores of Norwegian men proves that the oldest child in the family has a slightly higher I.Q. score than his younger siblings. This gives brothers and sisters new grist for the arguing mill. This study will probably be a plot line for all sorts of fall television shows. It could be on everything from Two and a Half Men to Law and Order. I'll bet the writers are just having a field day with this one! Sisseroo, if you are reading this, I'm sure I will find an interesting comment from you. After all, I am the slightly younger sister. :)
Experts have been split about whether birth order in a family affects intelligence. But after conducting the largest study of its kind, Norwegian researcher Petter Kristensen said the debate is over.
"We can dismiss the theory that (intelligence based on birth order) is not a true effect, that it is an artifact," he said.
Kristensen and his colleagues, reporting in Thursday's online version of the journal Science, also concluded it doesn't matter if you aren't really the first child. If an older sibling dies young and you end up first in the household, you'll be smarter.
The researchers looked at IQ scores in 250,000 men entering mandatory military service. They found a significant difference in IQ scores in 60,000 pairs of siblings, said Kristensen, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Oslo.
Even though the researchers looked only at men, Kristensen said previous studies say women are similarly affected by their birth rank in the family.
The study supports the theory that first born children receive more attention from their parents and have access to more resources than their younger siblings. The first child is usually on center stage, and parents try so hard to make sure everything is done right. Conversations are often based on the child and his day. Language skills play a large role on I.Q. tests.
There are obviously other ways to measure intelligence. Studies like this one bother me because some people might take them too seriously. Families have enough stress without adding new zingers for siblings to hurl when arguing. Hopefully, educators won't come to expect less from younger brothers and sisters coming into their classrooms.