INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA zNE"5
RICHARD LYNN Ua.7_Em
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland #+V5$
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore +ahr-v^R<
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of u$%>/cv
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a Mr}]P(4h
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of H].G%,2'
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation Wsn}Y-x
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. ^*7~ Wxk5
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples 8^fkY'x
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the 1vcI`8%S+u
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed zE{@'
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally 0phO1h]2S)
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of xl%!7?G|$>
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies
c#qOK
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean UOn
L^Z}
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained x4SI TY
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature %IS'R`;
3
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by #4(/#K 1j
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 B,SH9,
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. SrV+Ox
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids Te%'9-jk
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the xO2S|DH{
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest lFWN[`H
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the h&7]
Bp
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high 2#4_/5(j*
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been sPCp20x:y8
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn o0- 7# 2
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be (fgX!G[W
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. 8ALvP}H
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial /o=V
(
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become 0B(<I?a/
available and are the subject of this report. LGN,8v<W(
METHOD %0]vW;Q5
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by *_<P%J
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. "ei*iUBN:
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a ^(ks
^<}
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from |>(@n{
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given Az.k6)~
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables 5YJn<XEc
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile RU!j"T
5
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the T^-fn
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). eSZS`(#!(
RESULTS Sd;/yC 8
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for Jji~MiMn
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which z/*nY?
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is $or?7 w>
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the 9wP_dJvb
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the ^7`"wj14
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to [/#c9RA
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British (7RxCo=X
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the 2e}${NZN
British standardisation sample. sIuk
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH sDnHd9v<?t
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD OYGh!sW
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. nu,#y"
WQ
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means 37)Dx
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. PMk
3b3)Z
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of LTu
c s}
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white QRnkj]b
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an 66<3zadJZU
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 aG7QLCL
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean ]%I cUd}
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by ~U&,hFSPY
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater )rv5QH`i
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically @sly-2{e1
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. BM*9d%m^
DISCUSSION o+W5xHe^1
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in !dB {E
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States >:M3!6H_~{
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically :.['e`
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low *Dld?Q
living standards in China. !RLg[
_'
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- "}UJ~ j).
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by ;aBK4<-vl
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than ODK$G
[-
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & ko2Kz
k
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the @NGK2J
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half OKfJ
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 uhL+bj+W
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this (#* 7LdZ
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been ._m+@Uy]H}
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in JicAz1P1W
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). '1A S66k
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US '~i}2e.
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 oxE'u<
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and qG7^XO Ws-
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back &eV& +j
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs ;bVC7D~~4w
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living PL/as3O^A
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be SU OuayE
expected to increase further. f3e#.jan