r measurement. One instrument was the California Psychological Inventory or the CPI Independence Scale. From this inventory the Independence Scale was used to measure autonomy and detachment. A second instrument used was The Family Adaptability Cohesion Evaluation Scales III, or FACES III. This instrument consists of 20 items used to measure cohesion and adaptability. By using the FACES III, researchers are able to see how family members perceive their family to be and how they would like it to be (Byrd et al, 2000). According to their measures, results found that firstborn children were indeed more independent than only children. Only children do not have to compete with anyone for parental attention!
             and seem to develop a strong relationship with their parents. Thus leading to a lower level of independence than of firstborns.
             In the second study which was conducted by Mellor, researched children aged 11 to 19 with a mean age of 16 years old. Subjects were first categorized by birth order consisting of only children,
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