Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 11/03/84 (WLS Mods); site astrovax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!princeton!astrovax!elt From: elt@astrovax.UUCP (Ed Turner) Newsgroups: net.kids Subject: Re: SAT scores affected by number of siblings Message-ID: <523@astrovax.UUCP> Date: Fri, 4-Jan-85 10:42:13 EST Article-I.D.: astrovax.523 Posted: Fri Jan 4 10:42:13 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 5-Jan-85 02:59:41 EST References: <98@decwrl.UUCP> <1585@ittvax.UUCP> Organization: Princeton Univ. Astrophysics Lines: 25 I did not see the original article in this discussion, but it might be worth mentioning that there was a very elaborate study done in either Denmark or Holland (I forget which) in the 1960's which concluded that the determining factor (= single most important factor) in IQ scores of children is related to the number of older siblings a child has at birth. In particular, the mean age of all persons in a household at a child's birth was the best correlating factor with IQ score at some relatively mature age like 10 or 12. This study was based on one of the largest (2nd largest I think) populations ever analyzed with respect to IQ and was carried out with impressive (to my fairly expert eye) statistical sophistication. Moreover, it was shown that this correlation either largely or entirely explained many other observed correlations such as those with birth order, economic and social class, race, and so forth. In other words, children born into households with the same mean age showed little or no difference in later IQ scores regardless of many other factors such as those just mentioned, and observed correlations of IQ with these other factors could be explained by differences in the distributions of mean household ages at birth. Although I read about this work in some detail when it came out, I do not really follow the subject (since I have a low opinion of the whole concept of IQ) and never heard how it fared as far as verification in other samples, acceptance by sociologists, etc. Does anyone know? Ed Turner astrovax!elt