INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA {;0+N -U
RICHARD LYNN }.$5'VGO
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland tPb$ua|
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore 2TxHY|4
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of }-8ZSWog6f
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a N7WQ{/PSG
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of z:+fiJB_
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation A@I ( &Z
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. cf7UV6D g
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples CPj8`kl
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the 0Ia8x?80V
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed 'A}@XGE:p
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally fkjo
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of PRyZ; @
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies Vr1yj
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean G$HXc$OY
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained ='"hB~[
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature VBe.&b8
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by _,C>+dv)
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 qx+ .v2G
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. N)tqjq
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids S7
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in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the 74u_YA<"
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest |5h~&kA
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the @UG%B7
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high @9X+ BdQU
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been Xu+^41
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn kbHfdA
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be O 6}eV^y
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. /O$7A7Tl
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial 7B"*< %<
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become ^o@N.+`&<
available and are the subject of this report. k9|8@3(h
METHOD 4{Q{>S*h
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by =,4iMENm!
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. |_ u
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a =
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stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from I6B`G Im5
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given 1[&V6=n
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables I\FBf&~
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile ]g0h7q)79
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the %x2_njDd
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). <hA1[S}
RESULTS D+u#!t[q
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for F=qG+T
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which 1q Jz;\wU
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is 4sCzUvI~Y1
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the ZNX=]]HM<n
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the 8qi6>}A
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to `Z
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American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British e71dNL'$
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the TjswB#
British standardisation sample. dQkp &.
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH ]?$eBbt
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD w
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PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. dhAkD-Lh
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means -T0@b8
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. 8M DX()Bm
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of rbEUq.Yk]~
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white 9BA*e-[
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an
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American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 j0F'I*Z3
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean ^ rB7&96C,
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by c%bGV
RhE
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater 3cH`>#c
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically Y>l92=G
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. +"HLx%k
DISCUSSION zKP{A Sk
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in s?g`ufF.t
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States TcP
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and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically VYj*LiR
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low s,*kWy"jp
living standards in China. `BA,_N|6
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- oieZopYA
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by jwe^(U
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than 5,,b>Z<
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & E7K(I ?
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the S.#IC
lV
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half cp&- 6 w+
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 :qQpBr$
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this Fz 6&.f
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been NPFrn[M$
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in 13X\PO'9
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). |~y>R#u8pm
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US r-,P
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 d;-/F b{4
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and *co=<g]4KY
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back 0';U3:=i,
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs ofu
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were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living }0 BKKU +
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be r{Cbx#;
expected to increase further. Q#2gjR r