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I am puzzled about "same size" changes.
Consider Alter Self, and a Small or Medium target.
The spell says
Small creature: If the form you take is that of a Small humanoid, you gain a +2 size bonus to your Dexterity.
Medium creature: If the form you take is that of a Medium humanoid, you gain a +2 size bonus to your Strength.
I see that if a Human (Medium) changes to "Halfling" (Small), he gains +2 Dex, and changes Size category which adds a further +1 AC, +1 Atk, -1 CMB, -1 CMD;
and if a Gnome changes to "Elf" (Medium) she gains +2 Str, and changes Size category which adds a further -1 AC, -1 Atk, +1 CMB, +1 CMD;but is this really saying that changing from Human to "Elf" gains +2 Str? and Gnome changing to "Halfling" gets +2 Dex?
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I am puzzled about "same size" changes.
Consider Alter Self, and a Small or Medium target.
The spell says
Small creature: If the form you take is that of a Small humanoid, you gain a +2 size bonus to your Dexterity.
Medium creature: If the form you take is that of a Medium humanoid, you gain a +2 size bonus to your Strength.
I see that if a Human (Medium) changes to "Halfling" (Small), he gains +2 Dex, and changes Size category which adds a further +1 AC, +1 Atk, -1 CMB, -1 CMD;
and if a Gnome changes to "Elf" (Medium) she gains +2 Str, and changes Size category which adds a further -1 AC, -1 Atk, +1 CMB, +1 CMD;
but is this really saying that changing from Human to "Elf" gains +2 Str? and Gnome changing to "Halfling" gets +2 Dex?
Well... yes.
Remember that there are other circumstances where creatures taking a different form (albeit of same size) gain strange Size bonuses, however.
Take, for example, an Ogre Sorcerer (I know, it's a strange combo, but please ignore this for a moment) who casts Giant Form I.
Following the rules for Polymorphing on page 212, first we have to convert the Large size Ogre to a 'Medium-sized' version of himself, and this gives us a -4 Str, +2 Dex, and -2 Con.
Then, we have to apply the bonuses given by Giant Form I, which states that it gives the creature a +6 Str, -2 Dex, and +4 Con. The spell also gives a +4 Natural Armor, but this actually substitutes the old natural armor the character had (the spell specifically says that it gives a +4 Natural Armor bonus, not a +4 enhancement to the Natural Armor of the creature). An Ogre (in the SRD) has a +5 Natural Armor bonus, so this actually lowers his 'regular' Natural Armor of 1 point.
In the end, the Ogre changing form into a (let's say) Hill Giant has gained +2 Str and +2 Con over his normal form. But, in order to do this, he has used a 7th-level spell.
I know that it sounds a bit strange for an Half-Orc to actually gain +2 Str changing into the form of a 'frail' Elf, but please remember that he has not really changed into a 'real' Elf; as DM_Blake has stated many times, the polymorphing spells only give you a 'foam-rubber suit' which allows you to emulate some features of the creatures you resemble - like a 'magical exoskeleton', if you wish. After all, he has cast a 2nd-level spell to gain a +2 to Str - half the bonus gained from another 2nd-level spell (Bull's Strength) - and perhaps Darkvision, Low-Light Vision, a Swim speed and Scent (in case of an Elf, the Half-Orc changing into an Elf gains only +2 Str, Low-light vision and a +10 Disguise to simulate being an Elf, the latter a trait being shared by all shapechanging abilities).
Of course, a character can always burn 2 2nd-level spells (1 Alter Self and 1 Bull's Strength) to gain a total of +6 Str... for a bunch of minutes.