INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA [n/'JeG5
RICHARD LYNN +QNFu){G
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland ?haN ;n6'
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore C`F*00M{
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of 8y;W+I(71
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a +hdD*}qauC
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of G#.(%,
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation FC.d]XA%/d
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00.
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A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples Kg0
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have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the Jd
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United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed dI!x Ai
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally >Lo 0,b$
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of wN,DTmtD
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies HC,YmO:df"
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean jg8j>"Vj>
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained ODn6%fp%
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature uWw4l"RK`
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by _RG!lmJV
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 8zew8I~s
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. 41luFtE9
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids g0
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in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the ~
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intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest =|IB=
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the +RexQE
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high k|W =kt$ P
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been f$a%&X6"-
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn 2`(-l{3
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be ~2xC.DF_N
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. O_8ERxj
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Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial
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for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become *0ZL@Kw
available and are the subject of this report. XE]YKJ?|k
METHOD uG1
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A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by olPV"<;+pO
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. h4CDZ
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a =PXQX(_
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from S -j<O&h~C
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given (p<QRb:&Z
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables f
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consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile ]_NN,m>z
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the <VD^f
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). l1^/Q~u
RESULTS %FnaS
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The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for XWvT(+J
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which @
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to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is J_tj9
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possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the <b!ieK?\F3
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the [Af&K22M(X
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to "@!z+x[8
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British V6l*!R
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the G1MuH%4
British standardisation sample. g]|K@sm
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH 4HlOv%8
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD ZbTU1Y/'
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. b#0y-bR
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means ;+]9KIa_Pq
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. qM
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The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of 1Sox@Ko
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white "Y@rNmBj
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an (A2x
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 X%"P0P
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean ")|3ZB7>*
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by Vm.&JVb
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater CC1\0$ /
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically )&di
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significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. Zd@'s.,J
DISCUSSION wH1E7LY|R
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in 0wZ_;FN*-
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States %Kd&A*
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically 9"_JiX~3
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low ,2mnjq/*Z
living standards in China. q;3,}emg
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- z'a#lA.$}
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by }K,:aN,44\
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than <{@?c
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & ?(GMe>
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the WT Pp/Nq'
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half UJG)-x
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 l c)*HYqU
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this 6U;pYWht
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been 87%t=X
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in %]%.{W\j3
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). 6GCwc1g
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US <N"t[N70;
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 xB{0lI
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and >E^?<}E~.
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back %C=^
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at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs }J .f
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were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living 8[i#x|`g
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be \KfngYD]W
expected to increase further. v0!>":