INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA &Na,D7A:3I
RICHARD LYNN $bsD'Io
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland %+HZ4M+hV
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore )4e?-?bK!
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of b.|k j
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a T?HW=v_a
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of XsbYWJdds
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation )uu1AbT+e
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. VHqHG`}:
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples ME.a * v
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the Gqs)E"h
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed 25{-GaB
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally qvG@kuz8g5
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of
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intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies iqr/MB,W
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean omzG/)M:O
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained K26`wt
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature 6&`hf >
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by 7oV$TAAf
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 y$[:Kh,
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. 5L\&"['
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids !!?TkVyEyM
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the @jY=b<
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest F_F02:t
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the x>$e*
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high ^Fpc8D,
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been ]I'dnd3e
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn B"?ivxM:U
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be WJj5dqatV
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. y,s`[=CT
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial T: I34
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for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become 9wbj}tN\z
available and are the subject of this report. @A'@%Zv-
METHOD cB=ExD.Q
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by ,8G6q_ud
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. Lz{z~xNHW.
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a #gsJ
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stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from %8{nuq+c
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given h5<eU;Rw+
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables mLm?yb:
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile ApNS0
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the )9i$ 1"a(
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). `i<omZ[aT
RESULTS <
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The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for |ya.c\}q
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which :T )R
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to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is {2F@OfuCF
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the qs Wy
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age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the j9xu21'!%
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to YpI|=mv
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British <NWq03:&
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the 5XoM)
British standardisation sample. f9D01R fo
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH Hg5:>?Lw@
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD 'e
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PROGRESSIVE MATRICES.
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It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means nM|Cv
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. fLS].b]1N
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of Q
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substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white %y_{?|+
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an L Q0e@5
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 ?kdan
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean 7!Qu+R
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by 7>lM^ :A
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater i936+[
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically 4i7+'F
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. T/]f5/
DISCUSSION e2^TQv2(=e
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in %X|u({(zb
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States uH]oHh!}j
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically _Wqy,
L;J
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low &P7Z_&34Z
living standards in China. rXP~k]tC
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- }`.d4mm
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by 4-m6e$p;
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than ,pIh.sk7s*
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & AVi&cvhs
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the 7@
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economically developed western nations over the course of the last half lFl(Sww!\
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 h8dFW"cpC
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this ^!fY~(=U4
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been lhC hk7l
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in &-Ylj
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). Z+=M_{`{
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US 1xI
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 G>Hg0u0!,
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and slzB#
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back YD;G+"n?T
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs R,ZG?/#uM9
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living <*(^QOM
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be BU#3fPl
expected to increase further. jn(%v]