INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA o'KBe%@/
RICHARD LYNN = e"RE/q2
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland \gW6E^
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore #trb4c{{5
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of mb?r{WCi
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a ) >H11o{&
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of .5E6MF
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation +
v)+ k
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. dsG:DS`q
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples uE ^uP@d
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the "MPr'3
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed f5`q9w_c
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally ,GYK3+}Z
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of KLpFW}
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies !<UdG+iV
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean fAT+x1J\
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained nkO4~p
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature "+Kp8n6
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by n.b_fkZNr
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 )~{8C:
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. 7csMk5NU'<
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids er0y~
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the p_EWpSOt7
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest ,KaO8^PB
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the ~(-df>
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high mum4Uj
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been HXP/2&|JY
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn 9zNMv-
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be Ewa/6=]LA
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. (r-8*)Qh8
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial dk_! ~Z
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become mNPz%B
available and are the subject of this report. IWT
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METHOD U1=]iG<%
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by [<JY[o=
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. n%d7`?tm4
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a `s\E"QeZN
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from `G<|5pe
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given |H'wDw8
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables [N_)V kpr
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile A,;[9J2\&
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the Is(ZVI
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). r:Ok z
RESULTS >l =;6QL
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for V`_)H
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which 2rrC y C
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is X_ (n
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the b" kL)DL1L
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the D"<>!]@(a
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to (L,>P`CR6
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British =GL^tAUJ
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the {q/D,Rh8
British standardisation sample. /&o<kY
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH W0LJXp-v
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD ZJOO*S
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. Gxw>.O){
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means t]XF*fZH
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. 4v#A#5+O E
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of )rbcY0q
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white '^`%
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an Og :aflS
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2
\os"j
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean _53NuEM1
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by (BZd%!
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater ;edt["Eu
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically )vD|VLV
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. "rcV?5?v~
DISCUSSION D%h_V>#z
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in 0F%V+Y\R
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States qFwAzW;"
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically `e}6/~R`
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low v4W<_
7L_
living standards in China. <xwaFZ
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- <]u]rZc$
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by ;*>':-4
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than $c];&)7q
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & Df}3^J~JX
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the [w}KjV/yi
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half 4=ZN4=(_[
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 tREC)+*\
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this hEfFMi=a`
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been x-HR [{C
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in 9@ 8)ZHf
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990).
I8XU
'
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US F>"B7:P1:Q
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 |K'7BK_^J
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and D)J'xG_<O
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back f=Kt[|%'e
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs !UX7R\qu|
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living FK,Jk04on
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be RO8]R2A
expected to increase further. SAUG+{Uq