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)

Research has shown that differences among ordinary people in intelligence and personality depend equally on individual genetic variability and on differences in the environments that siblings experience within the same family, not differences in the neighborhood, school, and community environments. As of yet, there are no adequate theories to…

Criticizes claims in "The Bell Curve" that a high value for heritability of intelligence constrains the extent to which environmental changes can increase intelligence. Cites adoption studies and the increasing intelligence of successive cohorts of U.S. children as evidence that intelligence can increase substantially without heroic…

Examined 128 children for contributions of biomedical risk conditions, SES, and HOME scores to prediction of intelligence, and association of extreme scores on HOME and SES to intelligence-test performance. Found home environment was the most important predictor of intelligence at all ages, with SES showing a smaller effect beginning at age 5.…

As part of a larger 1-year examination of the relationship between television viewing patterns and spontaneous play in nursery school, this study focuses on (1) the correlation between children's television viewing patterns in the home and their level of aggression in nursery school, and (2) specific factors within family settings that might…

Trotman (EJ 168 902) indicated that Black and White families of similar socioeconomic status differ widely in intellectual home environment, and suggested the nonutility of socioeconomic status as a control in racial comparisons of IQ. The validity of Trotman's conclusions is questioned, both for methodology and results. (Author/BH)

Relationships between six home environment measures, achievement and intelligence tests were examined by stepwise multiple regression analyses for a sample of 60 eight-year old children. Home variables were most successful in predicting achievement test scores, less successful regarding culture-dependent intelligence test scores, and least…

This issue of a research journal on gifted education examines a number of research projects that delve into questions of how family life affects intelligence, especially among gifted children. Specific articles include: (1) "Are We Raising Smarter Children Today?" (Wendy M. Williams), which discusses the effects of school-related factors…

Trotman's study (EJ 168 902) correlating child rearing in Black and White samples to children's achievement and intelligence is criticized. Trotman made several erroneous conclusions, and did not add important information about the nature nurture controversy as it applies to racial differences in intelligence. (Author/BH)

Results from the Colorado Adoption Project, a longitudinal study initiated in 1975, are reported. The cognitive ability of parents and measures of one-year olds' mental development were significantly correlated for all three parent/child comparisons. Caldwell's HOME Responsibility measure was correlated with infant intelligence in adoptive and…

Examined effects of different environmental measures on individual intellectual growth patterns. Growth curve analyses revealed that HOME scores exerted a constant influence on the expected composite, verbal, and nonverbal intellectual skills at each age. Only SES influenced the rate of growth, specifically nonverbal intellectual skills. (Author)

A within cultural comparative examination of three samples of school-children residing in Saskatchewan, South Australia and Nova Scotia enabled the effects of family size and socioeconomic status on measured intelligence to be ascertained. Samples of schoolchildren in Regina (Canada), Adelaide (Australia) and Sydney (Canada), divided into…

Reviews data from the "High School and Beyond" study to examine sibling intellectual symmetry and the degree to which family background affects the siblings' intellectual ability. Finds considerable symmetry in intellectual skills. Discovers little impact on symmetry from gender or birth order. (CFR)

The major interest of this study is the amount of time children spend reading. Data was gathered unobtrusively by having the 150 5th grade subjects keep time records of all their activities for a 2 week period. These were coded into 7 categories and scores were related to those derived from tests of ability, achievement, self-concept and reading…

A wide array of data was gathered in a nationwide study, including parent and child interviews, intelligence test and achievement test scores, and teacher ratings of children's classroom performance. Results indicated extensive differences favoring intact family children, which persisted when IQ and socioeconomic status measures were controlled.…