INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA eUZvJTE
RICHARD LYNN 01&J7A2
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland =1e>$E#
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore N~0~1
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and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of
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British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a 9yWQ}h
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of a%NSL6
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation -j"]1JLQ
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. m6iQB\ \
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples G Z~W#*|V
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the 5fuB((fd(
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed d7i 0'R
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally k]] e8>
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of Qk#`e
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies TZ>_N;jTZ
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean "+k^8ki
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained TBr@F|RXiO
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature m)oGeD( !
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by
aPH6R<G
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 kY.3x#w
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. U_l#lGA(H
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids c_dg/!Iu
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the #*)X+*
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest Lju)q6
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the xp;CYr"1}
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high %[J|n~8_Z
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been P8\bi"iiN
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn k*"FMJG_
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be vC|V8ea
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. 5* 3T+OK
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial ZMn~QU_5
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become 's7 (^1hH
available and are the subject of this report. s!eB8lkcT
METHOD 'rSP@
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by @yxF/eeEy+
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. \`N<0COP
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a 0.kQqy~5
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from R8n/QCeY{
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given _7P#?:h
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables FAbl5VW'
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile N2/t
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the PZE{-TM?W
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). ^f_4w|u,+
RESULTS -JwwD6D
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for ,I^:xw_
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which #}|g8gh
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is riz[
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possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the uX8yS|= *
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the x!^u$5c
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to Lcow2 SbH
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British na-mh
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children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the EN/e`S$)
British standardisation sample. ~3r}6,%
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH
MFqM6_
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD RM `zxFn
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES.
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It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means $#LR4 [Fq
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. r.#"he_6!.
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of 2oFbS%OV
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white <o:|0=Swb
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an Qs1e0LwA9
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 J%SuiT$L&Y
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean DVLF8]5
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by EI!e0V1!
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater ;rjd?r
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically OK \F
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. /+zzZnLl-M
DISCUSSION ,d~6LXr<fM
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in *@SZ0
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States {ZR>`'^:
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically \
N;%
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low d^W1;0
living standards in China. R\^XF8n6/
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- o{I]c#W
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by /\e&nYz
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than H%^j yGS
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & VyWPg7}e
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the `S+B-I0
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half 3Sh#7"K3
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 lVR
a{._m
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this G.y~*5?#
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been 4b<>gpQ
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in 1?hx/02
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). o'auCa,N
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US f zsD
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 Yj/[I\I"m
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and ZCuLgCP?Z
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back 29~Bu5
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs 4y|%Oj
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living >cYYr@S
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be u{d\3-]/
expected to increase further. <WCTJ!Z