INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA Hg#tSE
RICHARD LYNN Y+-yIMt$r
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland y,D9O/VP
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore {]CZgqE{
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of { 53FR
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a q\fbrv%I4
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of CmU@8-1
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation TFSdb\g
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00.
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A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples /`PYk]mJh
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the
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United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed VUP|j/qD
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally 7e<=(\(yl
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of VfnL-bDGV
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies z|g2Q#$-\S
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean i$Y#7^l%k
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained BtJkvg(2]
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature e@'x7Zzh
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by /J`}o}
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 j*%#~UFw
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. t[|oSF#i
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids @2Z|\ojJ
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the Pf;OYWST
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest wT@Z|.)
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the +t7HlAXB#
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high 9ihg[k
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been 3D|Lb]=
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn ql?w6qFs]
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be Gs:g
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. RoqkT|#$
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial )~'UJPK
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become
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available and are the subject of this report. %
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METHOD !?,,
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A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by *DJsY/9d}'
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. Kzev] er
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a )]>t(
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from b_+o1Zy`
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given m
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in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables NEBhVh
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile _/>ktYo:
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the Q2fxsa[
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). c &c
RESULTS rZUTBLZ`j
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for B:zx 9
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which re/-Yu$'
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is +)c<s3OCE
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the %`Ce#b()'
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the @rhS[^1wi+
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to @&*TGU
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British !'$*Z(
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the 5gz ^3R|`f
British standardisation sample. =ejcP&-V/
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH bJ2-lU% ;2
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD H I9/
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. 2CC"Z
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means c)EYXo
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. E~y8X9HZ)
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of U][E`[m#
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white l+;S$evY
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an <"Y>|X
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 +w0Wg.4V
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean -jj
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obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by U6JD^G=qR,
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater -@AhJY.
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically >?+Rtg|${
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. tB;PGk_6
DISCUSSION o[;P@F
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in ruaZ(R[
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States XfcYcN
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically C|y^{4|R
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low H{cOkuy
living standards in China. AD
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- e1[ReZW
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by RE!WuLs0"
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than N XB8u6
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & e N`+ r
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the MR
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economically developed western nations over the course of the last half ".jO2GO^
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 A
rE~6X
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this u6C_*i{2
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been ?y|&Mz'XJ(
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in *zRig|k !H
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). C:1(<1K
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US ZK4V-?/[6
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 ^!tX+`,6^
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and L,zx\cj?z
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back ;adZ*'6u
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs veDv14
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living $HwF:L)*
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be LJrH_h8C
expected to increase further. 3Ei^WDJ