研究表明 第一個出生的孩子會比較聰明!

Research by the University of Edinburgh has found that first-born children have superior thinking skills to their younger siblings because they get more mental stimulation from their parents.

愛丁堡大學的研究發現，家中的第一個孩子的思考能力要比弟弟妹妹更加優秀，其原因在於父母對他們進行了更多的腦力刺激。

While the study found that parents give all their children the same levels of emotional support, the first-born generally received more help with tasks that develop thinking skills.

研究發現，儘管父母會給予所有子女以同等的情感支持，但是在提升思考能力的任務上，家中老大獲得了更多幫助。

Economists at the University of Edinburgh, Analysis Group and the University of Sydney examined survey data collected by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and found that first-borns scored higher than siblings in IQ tests as early as age one.

愛丁堡大學的經濟學家、安諾析思國際諮詢公司以及悉尼大學在共同研究美國勞工統計局收集的數據後發現，在同爲一週歲時，家中老大的智商測試分數要比弟弟妹妹更高。

The study, published in the Journal of Human Resources, observed nearly 5,000 children from pre-birth to age 14, with children assessed every two years.

研究報告發表在了《人力資源雜誌》上，研究人員對5000個孩子的觀察從他們出生前一直延續到14歲，並每兩年進行一次分析。

Researchers said the findings went some to way explaining the so-called birth order effect – which means children born earlier in a family have better wages and higher levels of education later in life.

研究人員表示，這一發現在某種程度上解釋了所謂的出生順序效應--即家中出生較早的孩子日後的薪酬水平與受教育程度都會更好。

First-born children scored higher on tests including reading, matching letters, names, reading single words aloud and picture vocabulary tests.

家中老大得分較高的測試包括閱讀﹑匹配字母﹑名字﹑大聲朗讀單詞和圖片詞彙測試。

Researchers also gathered information on environmental factors such as family background and economic conditions.

研究人員還收集到一些關於環境因素的信息，比如家庭背景和經濟狀況。

The study found parents changed their behaviour as they had more children, giving less mental stimulation and taking part in fewer activities like reading with the child, crafts and playing musical instruments.

研究發現，隨着孩子越來越多，父母的行爲也在發生變化，腦力刺激減少，親子閱讀﹑製作手工﹑演奏樂器等活動的次數也在下降。

Mothers also took part in more risky behaviours such as smoking during pregnancy with subsequent children.

母親在懷以後孩子的期間，也更有可能做出抽菸這樣的冒險舉動。

Dr Ana Nuevo, of Edinburgh University's school of economics, said: "Our results suggest that broad shifts in parental behaviour are a plausible explanation for the observed birth order differences in education and labour market outcomes."

愛丁堡大學經濟學院的安娜·努埃沃教授表示：“我們的研究結果表明，父母行爲發生的明顯的變化，似乎可以合理解釋出生順序的不同是如何爲孩子們帶來在教育程度和勞動力市場成就上的差異。”