INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA SzR0Mu3uK
RICHARD LYNN :z%vNKy1
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland eB78z@
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore z
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and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of cWl)ZE<hM
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a C+Wb_
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of J'4{+Q_pa
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation C|Bk'<MI
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. GdavCwJ
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples 2
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have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the ~F*pV*
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed .*>LD
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally aC>r5b#:
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of !ZbNW4rIP
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies v.)'be*u
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean .9Bimhc6K
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained
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a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature Y;je ::"
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by PKR0y%Ar
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 ?#xNz=V
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. :b;2iB
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Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids PNXZ 3:W
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the _=jc%@]1y
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest
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in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the .Lo$uKsW$l
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high .
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intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been 5nr}5bum
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn YH^_d3A;
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be ,~FyC_%*
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Dn _D6H
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial (|Am
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become h)q:nlKUW
available and are the subject of this report. ics
METHOD 5j`"@C5;O
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by $Trkow%F]
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. bCk_ZA
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a EA2BN}
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from g/so3F%v
.
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given .s|n}{D_i
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables j3VM!/
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile iYA06~d
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the R:B-4
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). N~ljU;wo-9
RESULTS 2](R}
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for ?6B)Ek,'X?
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which TH/!z,(>
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is
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possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the MQ2gzKw>
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the 5oplV(<?*S
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to }1w[G;$
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British h[3N/yP
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the ~)D2U:"^xm
British standardisation sample. *Xt#04_
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH z.eqOPW
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD ;)[RG\
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. \~Zj](#
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means B_M)<Ad
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. E$/`7p8)
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of bslv_OxJ
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white $Vbgfp~U-
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an z-uJ+SA
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 "OFYVK\]i
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean C ^Tc9
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by US'X9=b_
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater OekcU%C
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically ~R/7J{Sg
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. n.67f
DISCUSSION WUAjb,eo
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in m:/@DZ
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States Eszwg
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically X#5dd.RR
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low |Wj)kr !|
living standards in China. A$A7F=x
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- "*#$$e53A
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by nG$*[7<0u
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than \P!v9LX(
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & !
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Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the 9x&,`95O
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half @g[p>t> *
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 N{iBVl
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this 4r-jpVN~
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been VZF/2d84&w
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in 5?k_Q"~
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). Gu~y/CE'
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US ('W#r"
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 HGB96,o f9
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and J$&!Y[0
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back M{zzXE[@
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs hT^6Ifm
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living 0F`@/C1y55
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be @fT*fv
expected to increase further. X.xp'/d