INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA m .(\u?J
RICHARD LYNN >.9V`m|
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland N#)Klq87z
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore T /IX(b'<
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of )Y'g;
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a 2EN}"Du]mj
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of ;lrO?sm
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation ,/TmTX--d
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. gd#?rc*f<3
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples G %\/[
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have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the .f. tPm
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed v@8SMOe%
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally P2iuB|B@
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of "xHK*
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies JC~4B3!
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean @qjN>PH~
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained {D(l#;,iX2
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature YGs'[On8
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by F$|:'#KN
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 ad47 42
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. Qb%;
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Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids F2_'U' a
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the j)@{_tv6;
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest S?a4IK
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the >SziRm>Y7
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high bwP@}(K
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been ZGI<L
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn =OV5DmVmQ
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be ) R5j?6}xF
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. V>E7!LIn.
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial ]q[(z
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become *=v%($~PK6
available and are the subject of this report. Nge@8
METHOD nhC8Tq
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A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by aaN/HE_
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. MZcvr 9y
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a =3SJl1w1
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from i O? f&u
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given J|be'V#]1
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables LjW32>B
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile f\q5{#"z
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the R+e)TR7+
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). ZG#:3d*)
RESULTS G|-RscPe
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for 9n_RkW5
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raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which c9Cc%EK
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is 3fXrwmBT8
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the =ud~
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the
k $8Zg*)
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to YRf$?xa
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British kq?:<!z
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the 02%~HBS
British standardisation sample. $]}K ;
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH uV@'898%5
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD >
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PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. *icaKy3
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means n+Conp/
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. ~&F|g2:
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of matm>3n
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white %{cVG-<_iz
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an T"C.>G'[B
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 h)j#?\KYm9
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean omy3<6
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by (18ZEKk
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater w2/3[VZ}l
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically 99By.+~pX
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. 1=sL[I 7<
DISCUSSION hu"-dT;4]
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in u;1[_~
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States V lO^0r^z
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically )D'#>!Y
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low &(Hw:W9
living standards in China. $v e$Sq
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- 3&{6+ A
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by s"w^E\>6
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than ~]?EV?T
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & F`(;@LO
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the @"/H
er
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half \T<F#a
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 ZF#n(Y?
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this
t]]Ig
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been !Icznou\
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in a MFUj+^
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). _K'Y`w']
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US )dEcKH<#
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 :AqtPV'
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and ;pOV; q3j
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back D8PC;@m
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs 5=p<"*zJ
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living v3t<rv
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be I5g|)Y Q
expected to increase further. O\Z!7UQ$