INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA y#Ao6Od6
RICHARD LYNN _s
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University of Ulster, Northern Ireland d[5?P?h')
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore I7hE(2!$
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of COa"zg
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a [s4lSGh
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of q]Cmaf (
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation A-&C.g
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. 7N/v
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples mRw &^7r
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the r-+ .Ax4L"
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed Z`23z(+
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally IR,`-
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of 1#9 Q1@'OS
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies Lh6G"f(n
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean nTweQ
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained &C+pen)Z
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature G:QaWqUb
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by FaC;vuSpy
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 d3#
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and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. ;k<g#She
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids gD0 FRKn
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the d3AOuVUf
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest $4y;F]
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the ;aip1Df
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high <3iL5}
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been !52]'yub
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn MkG3TODfHB
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be >v9 ("
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. PG8|w[V1 "
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial AAE8j.
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become bBBW7',[a
available and are the subject of this report. 9GuG"^08
METHOD ?A/+DRQ(
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by 3PLv;@!#j}
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. lz1l1.f8
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a QcGyuS.B
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from wvum7K{tI
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given G-[fz
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables PYYOC"$
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile X/fk
&Cp
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the _
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United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). ,25Qhz]
RESULTS CfA^Xp@vc
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for mVN^X/L(y
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which R g7 O
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is 0Kxc$c
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the NZSP*# !B
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the cWSiJr):r
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to SNB>
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British 4
e1=b,
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the A=/|f$s+
British standardisation sample. 18 pi3i[
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH *4;MO2g
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD %:2<'s2Si
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. QXnL(z
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means K%ltB&
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. 'PF?D~
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of , [xDNl[Y|
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white '-tiH
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an x8xSA*@k
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 f:gXXigY,
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean E=.4(J7K
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by AXhV#nZt0
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater K)c`
G_%G
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically _Kg:jal
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. "If]qX(w
DISCUSSION C3^QNhv
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in \e64Us>"x
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States L\--h`~YU
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically }u0t i"V
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low p=vu<xXtD
living standards in China. =#||&1U$
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- qh!2dj
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by E`3yf9"
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than b/:&iG;
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & #wL}4VN
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the
<taN3
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half x'OE},>i
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 3zU!5tg
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this P)Vm4u
1
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been /(Se:jH$>
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in %Ji@\|Zkf
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). gf()NfUvRH
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US RfVVAaI
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 ^T83E}
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and i>w'$ {
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back y| *X
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs K
r9 P#Y
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living !N- -
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be C~F do0D
expected to increase further. c0.i