INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA 5?-@}PL!Y
RICHARD LYNN JQH>{OB
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland CYZ0F5+t
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore
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and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of *V?p&/>MT
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a ~ ":}Rs
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of *d&+?!
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation (}MN16!
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. /yFs$t>9
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples l g*eSx>M
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the -P-&]
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United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed C]NL9Gq`
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally c. 06Sw*
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of ,m1F<Pdts
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies =v7%IRP5
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean jn+BH3e
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained lR0WDJv
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature M`tNYs]V
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by $m;DwlM
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 _qsg2e}n
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. :7)lg iM2
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids L[
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in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the YxWA]
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intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest D}]u9jS1
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the zA*I=3E(
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high A3Oe=rB
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been /Gvd5
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn dr]Pns9
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be ?(>fB2^
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. UBM:.*wN
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial #9(L/)^
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become d< b ,].
available and are the subject of this report. [)t1"
METHOD
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A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by .a7!*I#g
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. #?fKi$fS;L
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a fm$)?E_Rp
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from l G $s(
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given i]}`e>fF
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables =k:yBswi
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile I3d!!L2ma
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the G$-[(eu-
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). Jq_AR!} %
RESULTS ^e(
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The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for @aUQy;
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which <L+y
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to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is o>Q
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possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the /eY}0q%
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the pN#RTb8o
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to ;ji["b
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British ><H*T{
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children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the rA[wC%%
British standardisation sample. agj_l}=gO
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH s|IC;C|
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD Mh8s @g
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. XY!0yAK(!
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means 4Bk9d
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than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. `,$PRN"]
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of Yqb3g(0
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white w=QW8
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Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an (X~JTH:e/
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 Jo4iWJpK
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean :Hq#co
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by vY2^*3\<D
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater H
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than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically \&b1%Asyz
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. y8$I=
DISCUSSION UQ}#=[)2e
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in 1i/&t[
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States 9_xJT^10
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically V~fPp"F
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low GDY=^r
living standards in China. 1s
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Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- MP$9W)
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by /<Yz;\:Jy
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than Y|~+bK
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their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & =_Ip0FfK!
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the +AYB0`X)
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half .A
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century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 ;%!]C0?
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this dT'd C
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been ][ 1
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accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in VRD:PVz
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). l#fwNM/F
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US n
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dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 Xhp={p;
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and nWFU8u%
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back Z
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at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs 9z kRwrQ
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living 9qI#vHA
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be Sd+bnq%
expected to increase further. PdSYFJM