ABOUT allDAY

allDAY is the official TODAY blog, your virtual window to Studio 1A and the people who make America's favorite morning show come alive. Whether it's exchanging views with the anchors and contributors or going behind the scenes with the producers, editors, camera people and more, we'll bring you the buzz here at 30 Rock, and we hope you will make this a regular part of your online routine. We want this to be a conversation, so please respond with your comments and questions directly to the blog, and we'll do our best to post what you have to say.



Live From Studio 1A: Birth Order and IQ

Posted: Tuesday, June 26, 2007 10:15 AM by Dan Fleschner
Filed Under:

What do Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill and Oprah Winfrey have in common? All, of course, went on to become hugely successful in their respective fields, and all were first-born children in their families -- a potentially significant factor in the shaping of their intelligence.

According to a study published last week in the journal Science, first-born children tend to have a higher IQ than their younger siblings. This morning, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, parenting expert Michele Borba and Meredith discussed the study's findings and its implications. WATCH VIDEO

The researchers analyzed the IQ scores of 250,000 men in Norway between 1985 and 2004, determining that eldest children held an advantage of 2.3 IQ points over their younger siblings -- a small difference, but one that the researchers argued could have a significant impact on college admissions.

The researchers also found that the disparity was due to the psychological interplay between parents and kids rather than biological factors -- more "nuture" than "nature."

So where do you fall in the birth order? Do you believe that first-born children have advantages over their younger siblings that allow them to get into a better college and eventually become more successful? Or do you think that by using IQ as the basis of the analysis, the researchers' study is inherently flawed?

MAIN PAGE

Email this EMAIL THIS

Comments

I believe this study. I am the youngest of 4 kids(2&2) and have witness intellectual rivelery between the 1st and 2nd born more so than the 3rd and myself.
I have also seen this in my husband`s family(2&2) ,however, in both circumstances the intellectual rivelery is between male and female firsts. Has the study made this link?
Wow, this is an intersting study. We grew up thinking the opposite that the older kids teach the younger siblings thus actually helping the younger ones more. This makes sense. Love the topic!
i am the oldest of three. my middle brother has a HIS DOCTORATE, and i'm pretty average with 2 years of nursing school. the theory does not work for us.
In our family, the middle child seems to be the smartest through the generations.  My father was 2nd of 3 and he definitely had the highest IQ, my brother who was 3rd of 6th has the hightest IQ of my siblings and my nephew who is 3rd of 4 (twins ahead of him)  is by far the smartest of that family.


SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

Syndicate This Site

Add allDAY to your news reader:
live.com xml
myyahoo msn
bloglines newsgator
google