INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA ww)<E`eGi
RICHARD LYNN ,xw#NG6
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland l.(v^3:X
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore kT|dUw9G
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of ~b(i&DVK
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a >;jZa
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of ru'F6?d
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation 2my_ ;!6T[
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. ?'IP4z;y
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples gx-2v|pZ
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the EHSlK5bD,
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed [ieI;OG;
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally Tg7an&#
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of
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intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies ajve~8
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of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean N(O9&L*4fm
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained q'+)t7!
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature Cw~q4A6'
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by #9=
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Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 a y4 %
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. pXtl
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Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids W4t;{b
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the ['b}QW@Fx
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest ?#Ge.D~u
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the {Je[ZQ$
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high Ah1]Y}sy
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been dSLU>E3g
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn gBd]
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(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be hz{`h
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. bAdn &
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 .7O*pJ2(H
available and are the subject of this report. u :}%xD6
METHOD f<-Jg
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by Zj_b>O-V
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. QfmJn((
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a s'3
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stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from
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small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given @MoKWfc
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables oph}5Krd)
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile IWk4&yHUAu
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the WEAT01
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). (|F*vP'
RESULTS !'Ak&j1:`
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for e*sfPHt
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which c& <Fr[AK
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is f<GhkDPm>?
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the GmK^}=frj
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the Upx G@b
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to |O3q@
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British C:GK,?!Jn'
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the "x%Htq@
British standardisation sample. V[mT<Lc
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH } FE>|1
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD C=-=_>Q,L<
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. Pi=+/}
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means b jy Zk_\
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. zlyS}x@p
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of x-XD.qh7Hr
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white aasoW\UG
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an ( B!uy`
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 },uF4M.K
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean c7 ?_46J
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by f0!))/rSD
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater
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than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically ,yC-+VL
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant.
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DISCUSSION AWcLUe {
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in qjwxhabc
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States "<6G6?sz
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically {M3qLf~z#C
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low ag;Q F
living standards in China. C^s^D:
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- I) rCd/
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by Y&`=jDI
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than =NpYFKmMhV
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & 9X[kEl
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the
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economically developed western nations over the course of the last half 84$nT>c
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 GXcJ< v
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this }pDqe;a{
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been iyN:%ofh
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in @efh{
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). ~W*FCG#
E
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US ~Cbc<[}
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 8<5]\X
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and Q[Z8ok
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back iky|Tp
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs `Nv=B1
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living $Y;U[_l#
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be ysJQb~2q
expected to increase further. %W'v}p