INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA :90DS_4
RICHARD LYNN @bS>XWI>
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland 5>$*#0%"}
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore g
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and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of A@&+!sO
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a $D8KEkW
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of XBi@\i=
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation IzkZ^;(N
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. QZ
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A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples ^oaG.)3
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the Jtc?p{
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed sp'q=^t
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally 4dl?US[-
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of Jd/5Kx
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies %!LrC!6P4
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean 33-=Z9|r
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained iZ)7%R?5
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature lD\lFN(:
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by Vs m06Rj{
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110
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and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. |yw-H2k1
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids g'hBs
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in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the Tf*X\{"
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest Fx)]AJ~[t
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the Xdw%Hw
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high F;`es%8
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been b(K.p? bt
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn :|P"`j
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be -O. MfI+
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. &ViIxJZ1$
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial o"TEmZUP
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become Y`\zLX"_m
available and are the subject of this report. &`t-[5O\
METHOD 0jE,=<W0>
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by w QwY_ _
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. >q4nQ/eP
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a CuU"s)
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from C$M^<z
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given aRj3TtFh
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables 5v!Uec'+
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile Hm1C|Qb
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the +qjW;]yxP
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). JA())0a
RESULTS ,O $F`0>9A
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for {h|3P/?7
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which m[]pIXc(
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is ENjrv
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the A#LK2II^
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the
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percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to Xs*~[k'
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British 6 3Kec
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the Z
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British standardisation sample. SO8Ej)m
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH 0nG&
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AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD Zo'lvOpyZ
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. $;"@;Lj%,
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means Eq'YtqU
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. `Fu|50_@V
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of ml\7JW6Rx
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white Koahd=
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an 3p$ZHH.UP
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 !|,=rM9x
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean H~@aT7
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by }+ I
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calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater %[;<'s5e~
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically wf<uG|90
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. w{#%&e(q"
DISCUSSION 6'|J
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The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in Iu%/~FgPj{
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States ()3+!};
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically B<LQ;n+
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low
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living standards in China. j&[63XSe
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- dID]{
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by vqv(KsD+::
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than :IbrV@gN{@
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & *s;$`8fM<
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the `hI1
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half R#
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century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 c$@,*c
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IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this ZVgR7+`]#
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been z[] AH#h
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in !>gc!8Y'o
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). HwM:bY
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In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US eAm7*2
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 }me]?en_Ra
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and (f
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Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back
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at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs 32YE%
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living /
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standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be ojtc Kw
expected to increase further. |oPqX %?