INTRODUCTION What is intelligence? Stephen Ceci (2001) says at the very least, intelligence can be defined as one’s ability for complex thinking and reasoning. Over the years there has been much debate about intelligence. How important is it really, how is it measured, and things of that nature. One thing that is for certain, there are many factors in one’s life that can mold his or her intelligence level. In a recent article (Ceci, 2001), it is stated that school attendance, whether or not one is breast-fed, and a person’s head size are all positively correlated with intelligence. One surprising thing found in the article is that intelligence is not influenced by birth order. The author (Ceci, 2001) claims that birth order plays no part in one’s intelligence, that smart people tend to have smart families. This statement goes along with some literature on the subject, but there is much literature that argues for the correlation between birth order and intelligence level. Alfred Alder was one of the first researched to look at birth order and how it affected one’s personality. His theory looks at first-born children, middle children, last-born children, as well as only children. Adler theorized that an individual’s birth order shapes his or her personality because of the different experiences that each birth order goes through (Engler, 1999). Adler’s theory on birth order, had implications for birth order and intelligence. Adler suggested that the oldest children tend to be more intelligent (Engler, 1999), but does this proposal really hold true? According to University ofOklahoma psychology professor Joseph Lee Rodgers, Ph.D., the theory does not hold any truth. Rodgers (2001) challenges popular belief by arguing that there is no immediate link between birth order and intelligence. He claims that studies that have found a correlation between birth order and intelligence were flawed because they did not compare children within families. Rodgers therefore evaluated data that was taken from within families using the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. This survey is a consolidation of intelligence test scores taken twice a year from a group of children ages 14 to 21. By comparing scores within families, Rodgers came to the conclusion that there is no link between birth order and intelligence (Rodgers, 2000). Rodgers also argues against the Confluence Theory (Rodgers, 2000). The Confluence Theory states that the intelligence level in the family decreases as the number of children increases. The second part of the Confluence Theory claims that the reason for this decrease is due to the fact that the elder children teach the younger siblings. In other words, the older children gain intellectually from teaching their younger siblings, and because last born children have no one to teach, their development, in turn suffers. (Zajonc, Markus, Berbaum, Baugh, & Moreland, 1991). Rodgers argues that parents who are more educated and with carrer paths, often have fewer children because they tend to delay having children. He claims that intelligence is mostly influenced by genetics and the quality of child rearing. He goes on to say that, “parenting efforts can make all the difference in a child’s development” (Rodgers, 2000). It should be noted that some evidence suggests that only children perform slightly better than other children in regards to achievement intelligence. But that eldest children have the edge over the onlies due to the fact that they have the opportunity to teach their younger siblings (Pines, 1981). In a study by Terry (1989), it was found that of 79 prominent psychologists, 52 percent were first born or only children. Terry gathered that this may be due to the “edge” that the oldest children have academically. This edge, Terry states, permit’s these children to undertake the doughty task of becoming a psychologist in the first place. Another study of the same kind found that first born children achieve a higher professional status than their siblings who are born later (Schachter, 1963). In a study by Terry (1989), it was found that of 79 prominent psychologists, 52 percent were first born or only children. Terry gathered that this may be due to the “edge” that the oldest children have academically. This edge, Terry states, permit’s these children to undertake the doughty task of becoming a psychologist in the first place. Another study of the same kind found that first born children achieve a higher professional status than their siblings who are born later (Schachter, 1963). Previous literature, as listed above, argues for both sides to the debate of birth order and intelligence. This study proposes to investigate the following question: is there a correlation between one`s birth order and his or her intelligence?
METHOD PARTICIPANTS
There were 50 Missouri Western State College studnents that participated in the study. There were freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior participants. The partcipant`s ages ranged from 18 to 60. There were 10 only children, 11 first-born children, 16 middle children, and 13 last-born children. MATERIALS
Selected questions from the Classic Intelligence Test found on Queendom.com were taken and made into a 20 question test. A copy of this test may be found in the appendix. PROCEDURE
Students found working in the library computer lab on the campus of Missouri Western State College were asked to participate. The participants completed the 20 question intelligence test and gave some general demographic information such as age and sex, as well as his or her respective birth postition. Upon completion of the test, the participants were debriefed.
RESULTS The mean intelligence scores of the four birth positions were compared using a one-way ANOVA. A significant differnce was found (F(3, 46)= 4.038, p< .05). Only children (m=15.80, sd= 3.11) and first-born children (m=15.09. sd=3.11) were more intelligent than middle children (m=11.76, sd=2.71) and last-born children (m=11.76, sd=2.71).
DISCUSSION The hypothesis that only children and first-born children would have a higher level of intelligence was supported by the data. The data are congruent with the Confluence Theory (Rodgers, 2000), and with Nyman`s (1995) findings. The data are also congruent with Alfred Adler`s theory of family constellation (Engler, 2000) which was the first of it`s kind. As with any study, there are limitations to this one. Although the participants varied in age, the were homogenous in many other ways. Obviously, if a person is in college, he or she is somewhat intelligence, so this could have also skewed the results. The tests weren`t done in an official manner, so if they would have been, maybe the scores would have been different. Because of the limitations of the study, it is questionable if the results could be generalized to the general population. College students were the participants and they aren`t a valid sample of the general population. Since this study can`t be applied to general population, future researchers should use a wider sample size, including adults of all educational levels. Another way this study could have been improved is to study children in the same family. If this were done, it could be found that intelligence does run in the family and isn`t a result of birth order. This would be sure to provide more insight to the ever growing debate on birth order and intelligence.
REFERENCESCeci, S. (2001). Intelligence: The surprising truth. Psychology Today, 34, 46-52.Engler, B. (1999). Personality Theories: An introduction. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Nyman, L. (1995). The identification of birth order personality attributes. Journal of Psychology Interdisciplinary & Applied, 129. 51-60.Pines, M. (1981). Only isn’t lonely. Psychology Today, 13, 15-20.Rodgers, J. (2000). Are firstborns smarter? Psychology Today, 33, 20.Schachter, S. (1963). Birth order, eminence, and higher education. American Sociological Review, 2, 757-767.Terry, W.S. (1989). Birth order and prominence in the history of psychology. The Psychological Record, 6, 333-337. Zanjonc, R.B., Markus, G.B., Berbaum, M.L., Baugh,J.A., & Moreland, R.L., (1991). One justified criticism plus three flawed analyses equals two unwarrented conclusions: A reply to Retherford and Sewell. American Socialogical Review, 56, 159-165.
APPENDIX1. Emily is four years old. Her big sister Amy is three times as old as Emily. How old will Amy be when she is twice as old as Emily?14 16 18 20 22 I don’t know2. Niece is to nephew as brother is to:Cousin Aunt Mother Daughter Sister I don’t know 3. What would be the next number in this series? 144.…121.…100.…81.…64.…??57 49 42 36 28 I don’t know 4. Which of the following five is least like the other four? Smile Grin Frown Touch Sneer I don’t know 5. 17 minutes to 9 o’clock is the same as 8:43?True False 6. DIDIIDID is to 49499494 as DIIDIIDD is to: 94494499 49949944 49499494 94944949 49944949 I don’t know 7. Let’s say that the following arguments are true: A. All Parkers are Franks. B. All franks are smartTherefore, we can conclude that all Parkers must be smart. Is this conclusion true or false?True False 8. What would be the next number in the series? 2.…4.…8.…16.…32.…??56 64 72 88 96 I don’t know 9. Which one of the following five is least like the four other?Liberal Democrat Conservative Presbyterian Socialist I don’t know 10. If you wrote down all the odd numbers from 1-15 in a row, then the sum of any two numbers next to each other is odd. True False 11. Copernicus was a famous: Traveler Painter Musician Writer Astronomer I don’t know 12. Your teenage daughter Sally and her friend Monica invented a secret alphabet. You find a note that Sally wrote for Monica using this secret code. Sally tells you that it says: Hi Monica,Yesterday, ?????? Asked me out. SallyYou desperately want to know who the guy is, but she won’t tell you. Can you figure out his name from the note?Ls Ucvski,Tbdfboqjt, Ujofsv jdmbq ub cxf. Djppt.Matthew Marcus Michel Mickey Martin I don’t know 13. Julius Caesar A. died of natural causes B. was killed in a riding accident C. was killed in battle D. committed suicide E. was murderedA B C D E I don’t know14. A group of older ladies meet for an afternoon tea party. They bring all of their cats. In all, there are 22heads and 72 feet. How many ladies and how many cats are in the room? A. 6 ladies and 16 cats B. 7 ladies and 15 cats C. 8 ladies and 14 cats D. 9 ladies and 13 cats E. 10 ladies and 12 catsA B C D E I don’t know 15. If you write the words DOS, TAM, and MAN with DOS on top, TAM in the middle, and MAN at the bottom, then the names DAN and SAM can be formed diagonally.True False 16. Napoleon lost his final battle atMoscow Waterloo Leipzig Berlin Paris I don’t know 17. Peter is helping his gym teacher. The teacher asks him to bring 16 balls from the storage room. Peter can carry 3 balls at a time. How many trips to the storage room does Peter need to make?4 41/2 5 51/2 6 I don’t know 18. Ryan is both the 15th highest and 15th lowest in a tennis tournament. Now many people were in the tournament?28 29 30 31 32 I don’t know 19. Vacuum cleaner is to carpet as broom is to:Dust Carpet Rug Dust Pan Floor I don’t know 20. Sue walks one block west from her house. Then she walks two blocks south and then two blocks east. She is now 2 blocks from her house.True False Please give the following demographic information: Sex: Male Female Age: Status at MWSC: Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Birth Position: Only Child First Born Middle Child Youngest Child |
