INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA ~\(U&2t
RICHARD LYNN =k'3r
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University of Ulster, Northern Ireland j'I$F1>Te
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore hBOI:4u[
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of UII R$,XB
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a {C[<7ruF
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of 3T%WfS+
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation UeX3cD
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. /EA4-#uw
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples /&Khk #
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the rU%\ 8T0f
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed
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in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally rer=o S
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of rV54-K;`0
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies +kmPQdO;*/
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean FX4](oM
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained 32:q'
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature +(QGlRd
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by A{Jv`K
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 bw ' yX
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. ma?$@]`k
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids [-=PK\ B
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the /m(vIl
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest lmgMR|v
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the iO(9#rV
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high _\1wLcFj
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been W1i
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determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn $*{PUj
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be zH.DyD5T;
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. 1Hp0,R}
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial #92:h6
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become rX)PN3TD
available and are the subject of this report. 25o + ?Y<
METHOD ?yU|;my
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by ?x%HQ2`
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. s-J>(|
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a 7_?:R2]n
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from
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small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given 4hr;k0sD
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables ==l p\
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile ZjF$zVk
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the <U (gjX
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). uL1e?
RESULTS {|O8)bW'
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for 3W5|Y@0
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which y}R{A6X)
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is %
Lhpj[C
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the FDkRfh K
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the GTyS8`5E*
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to r\.1=c#"bP
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British Z;P[)q
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the >t20GmmN
British standardisation sample. 7AX<>^
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH JnlM0jc]`
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD "W?k~.uw
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. jxm.x[1ki^
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means Y7zg
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. -:h5Ky"
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of pJ ;J>7Gt
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white r=~yUT
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an '(7]jug
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 != _:*U)-'
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean D\jRF-z
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by m1heU3BUWU
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater cO.U*UTmX
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically kS%FV;9>(
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. ;@Alr?y
DISCUSSION G!C2[:[g
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in O$V
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mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States QS4sSua
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically hHm&u^xY
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low +^iUY%pm
living standards in China. \f}S Hh
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- l`UJHX
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by &jT>)MXPu
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than wWKC
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their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & wm}6$ n?Za
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the @kenv3[Lc
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half - /]ro8V$
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 /QZnN?k
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this 7<<pP
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been )O#]Wv
r
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in 8$io^n\i
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). bjmUU6VLT
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US mVcpYyD|k
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 bN`oQ.Z 4
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and Xw(e@:
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back S#8wnHq
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs rW0# 6
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living ),(ejRP'r
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be 1Thr74M
expected to increase further. MRwls@z=