Study finds that the eldest sibling is, in fact, the smartest

Science...

While some say that the youngest gets the most attention, this isn't factually accurate according to a study conducted by the University of Edinburgh. The study found that first-born children are smarter than their young siblings as authors of the study set out to find out more about the "birth order effect". Researchers say the findings could help to explain the so-called birth order effect when children born earlier in a family enjoy better wages and more education in later life. For the study, researchers followed 5,000 children from pre-birth to the age of 14 and tested them every two years with reading, letter-matching, and picture vocabulary.                     Results showed that first-born children exhibited higher IQ scores than their younger siblings by the age of one. First-born children received more intellectual support with tasks that improved their thinking skills than their younger siblings. The results showed that advantages enjoyed by first born siblings start very early in life, from just after birth to until after three years of age. The differences increased slightly with age, and showed up in test scores that measured verbal, reading, math and comprehension abilities. So there you have it folks, if you're the youngest and the least successful in your family, it's not your fault, it's your parents.