INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA V/J[~mN9
RICHARD LYNN TY~0UU$
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland ]TqcV8Q~
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore QMHeU>
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of ]';!r20
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a et/mfzV
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of C6Dq7~{B
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation Mx0c
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to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. Hm%[d;Z7
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples AaKILIIQZ
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the @^#y23R U
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed Zna
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in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally Et
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been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of B% BO
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies ?9 2+(s
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean N f1) 5
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained ! X*L<)=nh
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature vAU
^<$D27
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by 5|Vb)QBv%
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 H~@aT7
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. ~r&Q\G
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids %[;<'s5e~
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the Pbd#Fu;
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest _U/etlDTO
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the 6'|J
;
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high j@2
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intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been X[grVe
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn S &cH1QZ
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be j^986
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. E=HS'XKu[K
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial b<Pjmb+
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become Y==# yNwM
available and are the subject of this report. v#=WdaNz
METHOD D)4p8-=t
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by |M0 XLCNd_
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. _/P"ulNb
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a CK'Cf{S
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 z[] AH#h
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables V ;"?='vVe
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile ;k(|ynXv
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the k$3.FO"
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). "yL&?B"9@
RESULTS )Q~Q.
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for Sg')w1
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which CA[
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to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is DpI_`TF#$Z
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the {tF=c0Z
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the ojtc Kw
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to |oPqX %?
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British B_c(3n-"
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the k:`^KtBMl
British standardisation sample. Ay"x<JB{U2
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH &> }MoB
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD ]N2'L!4|;
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. T|ZT&x$z
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means _ 4Hf?m7z
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. ;,@3bu>r
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of ?W%3>A
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white
9CUMqaY2
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an B~yD4^
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 rx|/]NE;
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean "x3_cA~
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by s
13Iu#
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater - stSl*
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically Z*jhSy
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. 6L'cD1pu
DISCUSSION !Z<Z"R/
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in wp.'M?6`L
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States Kxh)'aal
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically ra$_#H
Y
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low PY)C=={p
living standards in China. F#Z]Xq0r
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- [sACPn$f
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by g)u2
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than ~'v^__8
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & o NJ/AT
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the @b-?KH
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half ' G)Wy|*
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 ^
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IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this :mL\KQ
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been L
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accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in 9Ni$nZN
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). !OC?3W:^_
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US C
Hyb{:<
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 e[>(L% QV+
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and G'}%m;-mt
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back |I85]'K9a
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs QBai;p{
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living ;2#H M^Mu
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be 0v+5&Jk
expected to increase further. d=N5cCqq