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Relationship of Intelligence and Birth Order

explanatory Essay
609 words
609 words
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What exactly does the term intelligence mean? Intelligence is defined as the ability to gain and apply knowledge and skills. Does birth order affect intelligence? According to researchers, there have been some evidence that prove that birth order does in fact affect intelligence; however, critics remain skeptic about it and claim that the evidence are inconclusive and biased (Carey, 2007). The relationship of birth order and intelligence has been an ongoing scientific debate that goes back to the late 1800s
Francis Galton, an English scientist, published a book in 1874 that recorded the lives of 180 men who were important in the field of science. Galton gathered the birth order data of 99 subjects and reported that 48% were “firstborn sons or only sons.” Galton eliminated females from his studies because theoretically, the subject could be a first born and the 5th child if all his older siblings were female. Studies on 314 eminent people have been made that supported Galton’s theory; these studies confirmed that 46% of them were firstborn children and they were among Nobel Prize w...

In this essay, the author

  • Explains that intelligence is defined as the ability to gain and apply knowledge and skills. the relationship between birth order and intelligence has been an ongoing scientific debate since the late 1800s.
  • Explains that francis galton published a book in 1874 that recorded the lives of 180 men who were important in the field of science.
  • Explains that cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have different conclusions when it comes to the relation of birth order and intelligence.
  • Explains that the resource dilution model and the confluence model suggest that a richer environment affects iq.
  • Explains the confluence model's advantages and disadvantages in regards to the firstborn iq.
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