INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA Y7vTseq
RICHARD LYNN H O^3v34ZO
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland xm)s%"6n
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore uN:|4/;{&
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of d$3;o&VUNI
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a Wz}8O]#/.
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of Y:~A-_
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation ^1a/)Be{_
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. +s*OZ6i [
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples BEQ$p)
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have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the 2 kOFyD
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed cB;:}Q08#
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally x}g
5
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of <K~> :4c
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies 6I$laHx?
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean W>ziA
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained +h64idM{U
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature ElAho3W
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by UBmD
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Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 `]Uu` b
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. q(i^sE[y
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids U{IY
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in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the 'f#i
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intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest fZ9EE3
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the ?e`4
sf_~
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high gaK m`#
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been -xJ_5
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn YF+hN\
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be B? Vr9H 7n
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. <Rs#y:
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial 3'd(=hJ45$
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become KjrUTG0oA
available and are the subject of this report. kQ,#NR/q6
METHOD pJ` M5pF
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by Bs@!S?
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. B! `Dj,_
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a [j6EzMN
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from L[]*vj
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given yGNZw7^(
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables jRswGMx
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile r'kUU]j9
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the cTA8F"UGD
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). y:U'3G-
RESULTS sr0.4VU1
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for (M1HNIM;(
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which SIJ:[=5!7
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is (x
p<@-
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the |ZEZ@y^
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the DFgr,~
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to xbh4j!FD$
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British z
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children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the TZ`@pDi
British standardisation sample.
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TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH nkKiYr
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD +GgJF
Bl
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. p2c4 <f-M
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means ?_\t7f
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. E8TJ*ZU
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of ugtzF
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white hSxlj7Eo^T
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an yIm@m[B;
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 dmq<vVxC
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean &1O!guq%
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by ]=s!cfu
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater [}7j0&
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically /5:f[-\s
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. GM.2bA(y
DISCUSSION 6^W6As0
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in e&Z\hZBb
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States s6#@S4^=\
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically -S7PnR6
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low Wq bfZx
living standards in China. 9;Z2.P"w
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- =h?Q.vad
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by 16iy
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middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than +N161vo7
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & 5yvaY
"B
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the _(CuuP$`I
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half BrW1:2w
>\
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 2?",2x09
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this ~s}0z&v^te
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been "
2>I?
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in _xg4;W6M=
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). {U$qxC]M
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US ]r#YU0
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 \htL\m^$9
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and -mSiZ
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back -hM
nA)+
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs rAc
Yt9M#
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living ] gN]Cw\L
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be V#j|_N1hm
expected to increase further. %5N;SRtv