ABSTRACT
This chapter develops a meta-theory, in that it theorizes about theorizing. A popular theory of how the family environment influences the intellectual development of a child in that environment-the confluence model-has engendered controversy since its proposal in the mid-1970s. I am a consistent and vocal critic of the model, and that position is maintained and further developed in the current chapter. The confluence model is creative, complex, and intriguing. It also has critical weaknesses, both theoretical and empirical. Its major theoretical weakness is that it was built to match apparent patterns that weren’t really there. It’s empirical weakness is that when its predictions are compared to patterns that are really there, they simply don’t match.
