INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA &
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RICHARD LYNN r6t&E%b
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland 8=F %+
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore 7Z0/(V.
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and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of hVUIBJ/5(-
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a hnzNP\$U
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standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of 2ykCtRe
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation $XGtS$
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. DA=1KaJ .
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples 3dG4pl~
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the {eR9 ;2!
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed gxmc|
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally lzDdD3Ouc
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of .C= I^
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies ?Y3@" rdR
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean x=Mm6}/
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained aZKXD! 4
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature i&&qbZt
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by z0Xa_w=
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 J3B.-XJ+n
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. e$wt&^W
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids rzu
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in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the y|sma;D
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest o56kp3b)b
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the w$>3pQ8d
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high cZi[(K
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been H$tb;:
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn 3cC }'j
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be :JlD
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applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. S}7>RHe
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial UX_I6_&
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become "2;N2=~7
available and are the subject of this report. uyT/Xzo3
METHOD 3LW[H+k
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by 0H[L S
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. 2B` 8eb
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a U$'y_}V
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from *Jt8
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given "}zda*z8
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables <HQ&-j x
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile z-@-O
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the xl2g0?
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). ?N>pZR
RESULTS t5)J;0/
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for m r4b
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which yvxl_*Ds8
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is ~/|zlu*jpc
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the
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age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the V;93).-$
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to nwf7M#3d
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British %
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children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the {?i)K X^
British standardisation sample. <&U!N'CE
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH
YqU/\f+
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD C) .2gQ
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PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. D9-Lg%
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means f1Zt?=
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. Km*<Kfcz
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of zZ,Yfd|W
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white ?/d!R]3
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an 7Fl-(Nv`
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 ]k*1KP
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean l!IGc:
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by Ei~f`{i
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater =.b Y#4
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically O&'/J8
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. 7lU.Nit
DISCUSSION [/ohk&
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in KzVTkDn,
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States 2U9&l1P=
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically #T \
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low };sMU6e
living standards in China. / Z!i;@Wf
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- &+r4
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by \ e,?rH
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than K"l0w**Og#
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & `^##b6jH
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the !kXeO6X@m
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half 3hS6jS
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 Y&~M7TY b
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this <zfKC
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been 9+Nw/eszO
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in wPnybb{
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). L'9N9CR{i
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US {oWsh)[x2
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 c3k|G<C2
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and "^%Z'ou
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back sX:lE^)-z
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs 1q]c7"
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living h\y-L~2E
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be !Iq{ 5:
expected to increase further. s, XM9h>P4