<p>I am an only child as well, getting lots of pampering since birth and nothing useful. My parents spend more time buying me junk and doting upon me and going 'oh my baby <em>cuddle cuddle</em>' that actually did me more harm than good. They'd let me do anything except for socialising with friends after school --- that is come back home and do anything I want, even if I'd spend all evening and night watching TV, playing computer games or just chatting. Occassionally mom and granny would make a negative remark about how I waste my time idling online and do nothing else useful but that's about it. I am smarter than my paternal cousins --- the only kids of blood relation I can compare myself with.</p>
<p>Based on my own experiences, I would argue that the assertion that elder siblings are smarter than younger ones is hogwash. </p>
<p>I have a sister who is two years older than me. She attends East Tennessee St. University, where she is a sociology major. She scored a 25 on her ACT (superscored after three attempts), and has an average GPA now. She is a big partier and hates all things intellectual.</p>
<p>I recently graduated a private high school as one of the top students in my class. I scored a 2300 on the SAT and have taken 9 APs. I received a full-ride scholarship to W&L, where I plan to major in Philosophy and History. In my free time, I read Nietzsche and Kierkegaard, write music, and I am currently working on a novel.</p>
<p>I am not trying to brag; rather, I want to elucidate the fact that younger siblings can be just as smart as/smarter than older siblings. At the end of the day, both younger and older siblings have the same parents (usually) and the same genes. Relative intelligence is 50/50.</p>
<p>I"m smarter than my little sister (at least on standardized tests). We'll see when she starts high school though. My parents care about her more so they will probably help her more than they helped me.</p>
<p>In my experience, when there are three siblings involved, the oldest is smart, the youngest is so as well, but the middle one ain't anything.</p>
<p>Of the top ten people in class rank at our school, all of them are first born. Of course they're not guaranteed the smartest. But they do seem the most driven.</p>
<p>I considered it a statistical identity -- meaning an average spread over a large population -- and in that sense apparently true if found out to be true through a well-formulated study like this. </p>
<p>After seeing this study, my older (eldest) brother actually emailed me (whom he considers considerably smarter than him) and said, "well, clearly this isn't always the case." And I returned the email, saying, "Yeah, but you're the successful one." And it's true; he's far more successful professionally than I am, though I did better in school. Maybe this goes to a point about intelligence being a hugely complex thing; he's good at what he does in a way I could never be. Also, he was lucky too.</p>
<p>Anyhow, this study ONLY analyzes differences in IQ. Frank Sulloway's "Born to Rebel" analyzes differences in PERSONALITY TRAITS associated with first/later-borns.</p>
<p>It may be that certain personality traits between elder and younger siblings are more differentiated than IQ is, since it is thought that those personality traits are precisely the reason why older children have higher IQs (by the way , correlation between parental and child IQ is 0.8 - an IQ rise in 2.2 points is VERY significant). While children with the personality traits that characterize later-borns have personality traits that do not promote higher IQs, some of them still do have higher IQs than their older siblings for whatever reason. So while they contribute to the differences in personality between first and later borns, they do not contribute to the differences in IQ.</p>
<p>Just because my brother has higher grades and test scores than me doesn't mean that he is more academic than me. Statistically speaking, of course, academic ability is precisely measured by means of grades and test scores. Most of the time, higher grades and test scores correlate with academic ability. I'm just an anomaly (perhaps it's because I have Asperger's Syndrome combined with some symptoms of ADD - I'm the first in my family with any history of mental illness) - maybe those mental illnesses often contribute to statistical anomalies. That being said, there are intellectuals who showed their abilities independently of either grades and test scores - and they did not have grades OR test scores commensurate to their abilities.</p>
<p>"I really think it is all based on the Parents. For the 1st child, the parents are more engaged, and able to develop the brain in the early days. Me and my brothers are 5 years apart and I think my parents may have gotten a bit burned out. (or just really old.. ) It's all about those formative early years."
I agree. When I was a baby, my parents spent all of their time teaching me shapes, colors, my ABC's, etc. I learned how to speak at 7 months and was reading books at one and a half (I'm not trying to brag... obviously, I'm no prodigy or anything!). They devoted all of their time to giving me all of the best opportunities. However, my mother had another child when I was in 8th grade, my sister in 6th, and my brother in kindergarten. She had far less time to "stimulate" my little-little sister's mind... and she was a late talker.</p>
<p>I also have noticed that everyone in the top ten at my school are either first-borns or only childs. Interesting....</p>
<p>I'm smarter than my younger sister. We both take Honors classes, but she gets B's and A-'s while I get A's and A+'s. My parents don't let me talk about my grades, ACT/SAT scores, or awards around her (not that I do anyway... but I have to hide my report cards and certificates). They don't want her to feel any pressure or feel inferior to me.</p>
<p>My younger brother is very bright, though... although, he's the opposite of how I was at his age. I was advanced in English and art, and disliked Math. He loves math and science (he comes home and teaches himself science and math out of books he takes out of the library, and conducts science experiments... etc), but is a terrible writer and still draws stick figures. I grew to become good at math, though, and even came to like it (ha, ha), so he'll probably do the same with English.</p>
<p>Hmm, good stuff. </p>
<p>As for me, I'm second born (by age: 19, 18, 16, 14, 12, 11) and I would say that my older brother is NOT the most intelligent of my siblings and I. In fact, the youngest in my family, my sister (of six, she is the only girl), is faring way better than any of my brothers academically with the exception of myself. I'm going to college to say the least, and have been regarded by all of my family members as the "smart" one in the family. I am extremely academically-oriented (I self-studied five AP exams my senior year {I did decently} and continue to enrich myself) and constantly seek ways to improve myself whether it be mentally or physically. On the other hand, my brothers generally don't display any signs of academic motivation not to mention how lacking they are in any of the academic disciplines (they are, my friends, what you would call "gangsta wannabes"). </p>
<p>To cut to the chase: my older brother (the eldest) dropped out of high school and doesn't even have a job; my younger brother right after me was transfered from our high school to a community school due to his troublemaking tendencies; the next oldest is doing "average," but clearly tries to emulate his elders (not me); and my youngest brother was retained during his elementary years, and is also lacking academically.</p>
<p>I'm an oddball.</p>
<p>I don't think that's true, but whatever...
My older sisters are twins--I'm not sure if I'm smarter than them but I certainly work harder/get higher grades then them... but then again they were born prematurely so they could have some huuuge untapped potential.
Interesting article: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_order%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_order</a></p>
<p>I'm the oldest. My grandparents took care of me until I was about 5. I was a natural reader at 4. They tell me that I just picked up a book by Frank Baum and started reading it aloud. I was identified as gifted at 6. </p>
<p>One of my brothers is two years younger. He is a math whiz. He can do problems in his head faster than I can do them with the calculator. However, he can't spell.</p>
<p>My youngest brother is manipulative and shows the best environmental smarts. He's only 6 but can beat teenagers at games. So far, he has shown no interest in academics. My mom bribes him to read everyday. On the other hand, she used to pay me allowance for NOT reading :-)</p>
<p>I really do think there are different types of intelligences. I like the variety!</p>
<p>I'm an only child. I'm guessing, though, that some of that applies.</p>
<p>I am the oldest of 3 kids and I know that I am smarter than my brother (middle child). My sister is too young yet for me to tell, but she might surpass me some day based on what I've seen her do. She can sign on to and navigate the internet and spews out random, witty remarks and she only just finished kindergarten.</p>
<p>My younger sister nearly failed 1st grade math. She barely passed 1st grade. :p Her strongest area is reading, but even then she reads at grade level. </p>
<p>I think my parents had enough when they had to put up with me. I remember very clearly when I was about 3 years old, my dad would go to the store nearly every week to buy more books for me. My mom would spend most of her day with me. I was encouraged to read. Before I went to school, I was reading for nearly 9 hours a day. I went to preschool for a month or so, but my parents thought it was a waste of time [and money] and I dropped out. By age 5, I was in the first grade and I had written nearly 60 stories, hundreds of pages, filling several notebooks. My teachers called me a maniac. :D</p>
<p>As for the results of the study, it's kind of surprising. I always thought that it was the younger children who are smarter since they are somewhat exposed to school at an early age via their older sibling(s) and have older siblings to ask for help w/school. I know that I help out my brother and at times, I wish I had an older brother/sister to help me out w/school.</p>
<p>My family is pretty much backwards if the study is to be believed. My dad is waaaaaaaay smarter than my aunt. And I'm decidedly the dumber sister... although come to think of it, my aunt and I are MUCH less socially awkward than my father and my sister so that should count for something</p>
<p>I'm the middle child, so that makes me the smartest out of both of them.</p>
<p>Oldest and dumbest =</p>
<p>I only have one younger sister, and I can safely say I am smarter than her.</p>
<p>wat about only child?</p>