INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA gbRdng7(}
RICHARD LYNN 6MRS0{
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland ./;*LD
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore ?rH=< #@
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of Th//u I+
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a } "ts
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of s97L/iH
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation oWc
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to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. V5ihplAk
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples #3u471bp
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the 3/hAxd
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed Y_Lsmq2!
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally C!" .[3
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of :W
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intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies OECXNx
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean V_7xXuM/
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained Y:="vWWG
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature <ByDT$E_
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by tlFc+3
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 (gv
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and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. MRHkQE+K@8
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids EMejvPnZO
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the M+TF0c
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest #[#dc]D
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the P X<,/6g z
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high 4==LtEp
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been DWH)<\?
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn =1vVITwl
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be #TSLgV'U
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. k||DcwO
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial CSooJ1Ep~'
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become 0Z{(,GU
available and are the subject of this report. RsDI7v
METHOD $/(H%f&
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by -0doL^A
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. Qmh*Gh?v
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a NeyGIEP
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from Rx=
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small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given WH$
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in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables W\<5'9LNb
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile 7u^6`P
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the 62LQUl]<
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). w8g36v*+(u
RESULTS 0IM#T=V
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for >KXT2+w
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which Vkb&'
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to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is 5OUe|mS
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the bqg\V8h
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the j{'@g[HW
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to g)iSC?H
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British M O/-?@w
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the .tb~f@xL
British standardisation sample. DEC,oX!bI1
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH |Y1<P^
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD I1H:h
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. SVo`p;2r
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means <!
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than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. wB(
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The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of v+=_
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white 6l $o^R^D
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an ),6Z1 K1
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 K` 2a{`
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean rbP3&L
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by *WgP+"h
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater X|wXTecg*|
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically _n{6/
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. 6%_d m'
DISCUSSION F'#e]/V1
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in }J$PO*Q@'
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States Ja#idF[V
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically |E]YP~h
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low q 9pcEm4?
living standards in China. n{Mj<\kL
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi-
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ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by )V}u1C-N
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than Q\:'gx8`
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & `"CF/X^
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the Ve8`5
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half V*'9yk"
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 u;:N 4d=f'
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this 4"j5@bppJ
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been 6C/D&+4
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in yK&)H+v
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). ()>\D
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US 2s6Hr;^w.1
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 MU&5&)m
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and 8YN+
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Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back Ck.GN<#-^P
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs aV(*BE/@F
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living Ec6{?\
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be MOmp{@
expected to increase further. I/)dXk~