INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA .d
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RICHARD LYNN Agi1r]W
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland vR)7qX}
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore okcl-q
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of \9}5}X_x.
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a '!2t9B8XX
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of r6$=|Yto
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation c"YK+2
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. %7d"()L
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples {cv;S2
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the Qi[D&47XO
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed z;/'OJ[.
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally wi9|
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of NZTYT\7
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies 'QS"4EvdD
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean Yjl0Pz.q
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained U2AGH2emw
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature =+"'=o
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by WvJ?e
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 1}BNG ,n
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. +E [b Lz^
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids 5i^vN"J
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the yQA[X}
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest 9/$P_Q:3
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the p&4n3%(R@
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high =a!6EkX
*
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been {6n \532@
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn OV/FQH;V
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be `e9uSF:9C
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. ^97ZH)Ww
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial *h4m<\^U
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become O2,g]t~C
available and are the subject of this report. h]Oplp4\W
METHOD <!N;(nZ9}O
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by >ek%P;2w>
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. gr?pvf!I
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a cik@QN<[0
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from cLU*Tx\
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given GiZ'IDV
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables 0l6iv[qu5w
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile YxtkI:C?
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). }}1/Ede{5
RESULTS Q*C4
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The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for ->hxHr`!%a
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which ~1'468
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is .cF$f4>2
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the DjIswI1I
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the y|Y3,s
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to W[>Tq T63
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British N ]7a=
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the 7h]R{ _
British standardisation sample. SU'1#$69F
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH a1`cI5n
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD ;0!Wd
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. DP_Pqn8p&M
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means &iOtw0E
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. W{+0iAYnp
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of I|IlFu?O=
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white 9(F?|bfk
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an %9/)
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 <e&QTyb
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean 0:Y`#0qK
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by qX'a&~s)n
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater H27Oq8
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically YB{E=\~
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. Gr@{p"./z
DISCUSSION (bt]GAxb1
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in >ij4z
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mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States *Z`eNz}
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically W>s'4C`
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low
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living standards in China. G`#gV"PlC
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- <M OL{jan
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by d95N$n
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than
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their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & \u_v7g
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the IA`8ie+
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half ePpK+E[0Z
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 >.hGoT!_k
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this 'B5J.Xe:
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been 3t8H?B12ow
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in 56Y5kxmi
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). 4D8y b|o
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US }PIB b
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 ]A]E)*
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and 'HWgvmw(
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back '(pdk
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs !(_xu{(DL
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living _
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standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be J8v:a`bX&
expected to increase further. z83:a)U