Effects of Mother and Older Sibling on Child's Conceptual Style

Summary Effects of aid by mother or older sibling on the child's conceptual style were determined in relation to the sexes of the two siblings and family size. Ss were 120 first grade children with a third grade sibling; half from two-child families and half from larger families; the four possible sex combinations were equally represented. Children worked on a practice object sorting task alone, or were aided by sibling or mother, prior to a test administration of the object sorting task. When children were helped by their older sibling, those with older sisters used more descriptive and inferential categories than those with older brothers; when children were helped by their mothers, those with older brothers used more descriptive and inferential categories than those with older sisters (p < .05). Results are interpreted in terms of the author's theory of family interaction.