INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA mmu{K$9}I
RICHARD LYNN |bO}|X
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland 2J|Wbey
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore hJkIFyQ{j
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of = =cAL"Z
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a 0V}%'Ec<e
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of <nvz*s
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation W.HM!HQp
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. %_(e{Mf)
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples 3!Gnc0%c
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the 3EI$tP @4
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed wx>BNlT@?
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally DdN{=}A
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of H`9E_[
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies
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of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean <I&X[Sqp
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained E/Q[J.$o
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature rMH\;\
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on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by =xw) [
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 TF^Rh4
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. TC<_I0jCh
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids E-MEMran4
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the {}s7q|$
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest va:5pvt2&
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the Oq|RMl
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high : ,fs'!
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been >TeTa l
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn {3i.U028]
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be 2x"&8Bg3
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. bvUjH5.7
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial 6*lTur9ni
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become Pn[-{nz
available and are the subject of this report. bfVKf}
METHOD TXv3@/>ZlG
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by 2LiJ IO8N
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. O<
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The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a 0%<Fc9#
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from #B88w9
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small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given 2h@/Q)z
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables
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consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile >j4;{r+eQw
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the Z0`Bn5
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). q$yTG
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RESULTS VEkv
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The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for O
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raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which w+fsw@dK&
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is JpcG5gX^B
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the :tl*>d~
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the 7s4G|N[wR\
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to VA&_dU]*
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British D2# 3fM6
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the ,j:`yB]4,
British standardisation sample. kOfbO'O9
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH X"z^4?Aj+
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD ?<ks^2D
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. ey _3ah3x
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means }G]6Rip3
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. K63OjR>H
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of >OgA3)X
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white 2TXrVaM
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an eBFsKOtu
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 %d c=QSL
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean Kyq/'9`
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by u3a"[DB9c
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater FMc$?mm
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically ^a0{"|Lq
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. [i==
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DISCUSSION 8doKB<#_+=
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in g=0`^APql
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States }Y[xj{2$O
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically )>QpR8
G-
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low <~X4&E]rT_
living standards in China. D|9xD
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- tda#9i[pkH
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by |C301ENZ
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than ve49m%NQ
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & 66(|3D X
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the G|H+
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economically developed western nations over the course of the last half l~b# Y&
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 7?9QlUO
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this SP?~i@H
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been -|bnvPmE
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in zR_ "
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). tBd-?+~7
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US F{WV}o=MY
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 $Ypt
/`
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and dY5 m) ?
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back l+HmG< P
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs n`8BE9h^
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living V^
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standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be InBnU`(r
expected to increase further. 5 Tag-+