扎荣茨汇合模型述评

Review of Zajonc’s confluence model

出生顺序对个体智力发展意味着什幺，这是一个貌似简单却倍受研究者关注的问题。美国心理学家扎荣茨对此进行了诸多卓有成效的研究，提出了这一领域有重要影响力和解释力的汇合模型。该模型认为，由父母和子女们的智力水平共同决定的智力环境将影响子女的智力发展。文章梳理了汇合模型的发展与完善过程，对扎荣茨有关出生顺序的研究进行了评价，指出了其学术贡献并重点分析了这些研究的局限。

What birth order means to one’s intelligence seems to be a simple but complicated issue. The present paper reviewed American psychologist， Zajonc’s confluence model and some empirical researches about the relationship between human birth order and intellectual development. In the confluence model， intellectual development within the family context was conceived of as depending on the cumulative effects of the intellectual environment， which consisted primarily of the siblings’ and parents’ intelligence. The developmental process of the confluence model was reviewed and its implications and limitations were evaluated finally.