RUTH: What was the problem with most of these studies, do you think?

露丝：你觉得大多数研究的问题是什么？

ED: I think it was because in a lot of cases data was collected from only one sibling per family, who rated him or herself and his or her siblings at the same time.

艾德：我认为许多实例数据来自于每个家庭中的某个子女，他们评价自己的同时也评价了其他兄弟姐妹。

RUTH: Mmm. Some of the old research into the relationship between birth order and academic achievement has been proved to be accurate though.

露丝：唔。但是，事实证明一些早期研究关于出生顺序和学习成绩的关系的调查是准确的。

Performances in intelligence tests decline slightly from the eldest child to his or her younger siblings. This has been proved in lots of recent studies.

从老大到弟弟妹妹，智力测试呈现轻微的下降趋势。许多近期的研究都证明了这一点。

ED: Yes. Although what many of them didn’t take into consideration was family size.

艾德：是的，虽然许多研究没有将家庭人数考虑在内。

The more siblings there are, the likelier the family is to have a low socioeconomic status - which can also account for differences between siblings in academic performance.

一个家庭中孩子越多，它的社会经济地位就可能越低。这也是造成兄弟姐妹间的学习成绩差异的原因。

RUTH: The oldest boy might be given more opportunities than his younger sisters, for example.

露丝：比如，最大的男孩得到的机会比他的妹妹们更多。

ED: Exactly.

艾德：正是。

RUTH: But the main reason for the marginally higher academic performance of oldest children is quite surprising, I think.

露丝：但是我觉得最年长孩子获得稍高的学习成绩的主要原因十分让人吃惊。

It’s not only that they benefit intellectually from extra attention at a young age - which is what I would have expected.

这不只是因为少年时得到的父母的额外关注帮助了他们智力的发展——这一点是我本来以为的。

It’s that they benefit from being teachers for their younger siblings, by verbalising processes.

真正的原因是他们是弟弟妹妹的老师，用丰富的话语表达指令。

ED: Right, and this gives them status and confidence, which again contribute, in a small way, to better performance.

艾德：对的。这也塑造了他们的地位和自信。这些品质再次慢慢地提高了他们的成绩。

So would you say sibling rivalry has been a useful thing for you?

那么你觉得对你来说兄弟姊妹间的竞争是有帮助的吗？

RUTH: I think so - my younger brother was incredibly annoying and we fought a lot but I think this has made me a stronger person.

露丝：我觉得是，我的弟弟特别讨厌，我们常常打架。但是我认为这样使我变得更强大了。

I know how to defend myself.

我知道如何保护我自己。

We had some terrible arguments and I would have died rather than apologise to him - but we had to put up with each other and most of the time we co-existed amicably enough.

我们曾经吵得很厉害，我宁愿去死也不愿意给他道歉。但是，我们必须忍受对方，大多数时间我们相处得很好。

ED: Yes, my situation was pretty similar.

艾德：我的情况也很类似。

But I don’t think having two older brothers made me any less selfish - I was never prepared to let my brothers use any of my stuff …

但是我觉得我的两个哥哥没有让我更无私，我从不让他们用我的东西。

RUTH: That’s perfectly normal, whereas …

露丝：这种情况特别常见，但是……