INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA B$_F)2%m;
RICHARD LYNN n!A')]y"
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland v6;XxBR6
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore e#)
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and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of
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British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a L*11hyyk
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of {> pB
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation O=G2bdY{,
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. v5RS <?o
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples _LxV)
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the v93+<@Z
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed R1\cAP^0
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally r"zW=9 O=
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of l3)(aay!
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies z@{|Y;s
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean ko>SnE|w#
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained 2p8JqZMQb
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature G]=U=9ZI
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by ]nEN3RJ
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 l92#F*
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. 9v_gR52vh
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids to(OVg7_
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the VsNqYFHes&
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest 8~Rja
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the
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homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high g*AnrQ}P
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been 6oL-Atf
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn KAO}*?
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be Hvnak{5
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. #B
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Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial 72@8M
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become \Llrs-0 M
available and are the subject of this report. ak;fCx&
METHOD ;yx+BaG~?
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by 4Q,HhqV'
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. -~p@o1k0
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a iEsI
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from 8n,i5>!d
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given I^qk` 5w
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables >8#(GXnSt
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile o.Mb~8Yu
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the #Jq@p_T"
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). -$.$6"]
RESULTS \4bma<~a
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for iShB^
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which 0/#XUX 4
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is 6jO*rseC
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the d&n0:xOc
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the +[zrU`!@
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to {Ejv8UdA9
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British Z8}Zhe.
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the
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British standardisation sample. `Btdp:j8i
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH ^>72<1U%
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD m32OE`s
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. L>).o%(R
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means KQNSYI7a
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. $xvEYK
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of pr>K#@^
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white n,9 *!1y
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an .[+8D=
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 mRW(]OFIai
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean bXQ(6P
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by {MO`0n;
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calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater [f:>tRdH
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically qF%wl
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. &bRmr/D
DISCUSSION +`yDW N?7
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in +)qPUKb?
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States [t: =%&B
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically Ni"fV]'
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low M#=woj&[
living standards in China. \Nb6E&+
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- H*A)U'`
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by Y~,[9:SR
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than XqyfeY5t
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & TE
E$1RxV(
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the E"x 2 jP
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half Njc3X@4=
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 YM1tP'4j@
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this jQ4Pv`
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been c_kxjzA#
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in Yn'XSV|g
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). @>ONp|}@qI
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US Q^Y>T&Q
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 X`.4byqdK
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and '355Pce/
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back _0oZgt)
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs Ud*.[GRD~
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living c42p>}P[
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be $_S^Aw?
expected to increase further. 4Qz