Examines the contiguity of siblings within family structure--a concept reflecting how much of the family environment siblings share with one another--in relation to within family IQ scores. Results fail to demonstrate family structure effects. (HOD)

The IQ performance of children who experienced the birth of a younger sibling was found to drop 10 points during the next two years for singleton children and 5.8 points for last-born children from families of comparable size. The study controlled for sex, family size, age at assessment, and IQ before the birth of the sibling. (Author/RH)

Preschoolers did use certain aspects of the "child-directed speech" register: they addressed their infant siblings with a high pitch, with relatively short utterances, and with many directives and self-repetitions. However, linguistic interactions of preschool-age siblings and infants were different from those of mothers and infants in several…

This study attempted to determine what expectations or beliefs adults might hold about a child based on his or her sibling status alone. Ratings on 50 adjective pairs for each of three sibling status types, only, oldest, and youngest child, were assessed in relation to adult expectations, birth order, and parental status of rater. (Author/DST)

Compares the interactions of 20 firstborn and 17 lastborn children with their parents and siblings. Children were observed at home for five 45-minute sessions. Oldest children differed from youngest children in emitting more behaviors to parents than to siblings and in receiving more negative responses from parents and siblings. (Author/CB)

Noting that the family environment in which a child lives affects many aspects of that child's life, including school performance, this "Indicator of the Month" from the National Center for Educational Statistics presents data on family characteristics for 1972-1997. In addition to data tables, key findings are summarized: (1) educational…

This study compared 42 male homosexual college students with heterosexual controls on 19 life experience factors. The factors were developed from a biographical questionnaire and, in turn, were used to develop subgroups homogeneous with respect to previous experience. The homosexuals differed on 8 of the 19 dimensions. The pattern was one…

In a worldwide study of 39 societies it was found that birth of a first child was more likely to raise status of parents and stabilize marriage than births of subsequent children. (ST)

The hypothesized positive correlation between maternal physical affection and closeness to other persons was confirmed. The more maternal affection the students received, the closer they permitted stimulus persons to approach. (ST)

An analysis of the type and frequency of the different persuasive appeals indicated the major differences were due to the age of the target and not the birth order of the subject. (Authors)

Informal sessions between the school counselor and siblings attending the same school are described. The results indicate greater rapport between students and counselor and a boosting of self referrals, an increase in referrals from parents, and additional information in helping in planning a developmental guidance program. Recommendations are…

It was concluded that while retinoblastoma per se is not associated with intellectual superiority or inferiority, retinoblastoma associated with blindness may result in selective cognitive superiority. (Authors)

Members of Average (adjustment) Families made decisions faster and talked more equally to one another than members of Low (adjustment) Families and had higher normality scores than either High or Lows. (Author)