The July 10th issue of Time magazine features a cover story on "The
New Science of Siblings." Check it out at
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1209949,00.html?
internalid=AOT_t_07-02-2006_the_new_science. Sadly, Adler's
contribution to birth order is not mentioned, nor are the other
potential influences on personality formation given any weight. The
writer falls into the seductive trap of "one cause," simplistic
thinking. A few years ago, Judith Harris claimed that children's
friends were the primary influence on personlaity formation.
Check "The Style of Life Tree" at
http://go.ourworld.nu/hstein/tree.htm for a Classical Adlerian
perspective.