INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA tJ!s
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RICHARD LYNN sc
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University of Ulster, Northern Ireland U<mFwJ C]
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore SFx|9$hXm
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of fs
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British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a @EzO
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standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of C.oC@P
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation y(0";\V
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. !
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A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples
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have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the WEFvJ0]
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed qx<h rC0Z&
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally 0'4V*Y
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of %,[p[`NRYR
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies Uk|(VR9
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean !_My]>S
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained QAmb_:^"d
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature zeG_H}[2&
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by nA>kJSL'$
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 W:
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and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. gl~>MasV&
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids .3yxg}E>{
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the [agp06 $D?
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest {%Q&CQG_
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the CP!>V:w%9!
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high o$+"{3svw?
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been 0x]WW|se*
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn {P@OV1
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be !/Wp0E'A
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. SN/
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Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial 1Ydym2
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become S,~DA3
available and are the subject of this report. Y1Qg|U o
METHOD [<p7'n3x
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by U k*HRudt
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. Pf?y!dK<
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a ?oO<PR}y
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from Km9Y_`?
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given .,5N/p"aV
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables c>nXnN
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile (r+#}z}
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the ?A7_&=J%
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). ?go+oS^
RESULTS |VRzIA4M\
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for WN%KATA
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which ^+20e3 ~Y
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is @,{',
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possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the *iVCHQ~
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the J}UG{RttI
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to m}dO\;
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British L+o"<LV]
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the ;.4A,7w#
British standardisation sample. V"{+cPBO)
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH G 0;5I_D/
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD T,eP&IN
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. dJ}E,rW}
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means Ysz&/
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than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. 4#^?-6
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of
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substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white lYq4f|5H}m
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an !9knFt43
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 N?mTAF'M
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean Mk~]0d
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by kLw07&H
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater kxp, ZP
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically PA(XdT{
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. {Ex*8sU%p%
DISCUSSION N-4k
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The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in 43 h0i-%1
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States \KJ\> 2Y
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically 6(uK5eD(!n
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low qvH7 otA
living standards in China. -1 Ok_h"
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- g-Y2U}&
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by 9OnH3
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than Ow\dk^\-G8
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & 5s'oVO*hW
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the #}Qzu~
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half )|?s!rw +
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 "Wz#<! .r
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this 3j
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rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been /X_g[*]?
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in F qW[L>M'
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). lSzLR~=Au
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US rL/e
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 [j]3='2}G
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and ?-`G0 (
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back \Gk4J<
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs ~\^h;A'3
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living ~:\QC
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be u'BuZF
expected to increase further. VaIFE~>E&