INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA VPq5xSc?
RICHARD LYNN P':]A{<Z
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland dM>j<JC=
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore %Q>~
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and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of D
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British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a "^e}
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standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of JI{OGr
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation oho AUT
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. ,E
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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 /*mFP.en
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed tk]_QX
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in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally WOe{mwhhj
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of BXKlO(7
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies >b/k|?xP
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean 4w?]dDyc%
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained o|Yn(xu-
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature uM}dZp 1
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by T<9dW?'|
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 &-=G9sb,
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. v#T?YK
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids ;%3thm7+
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the cP$wI;P
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest )l 4>=y
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the Q0[CH~
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high TV$\v@\ =
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been ~{3o(gzl
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn ]k3GFPw
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be 6qmo
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applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. 8k*
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial 5 O{Ip-
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become F|h,a;2
available and are the subject of this report. 9~Y)wz
METHOD troy^H
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by f0N)N}y
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. tDuUAI
54
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a Dn{19V.L
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from w<8
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small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given [E..VesrM
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables :_I
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consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile 7><*
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equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the E@'CU9Fo
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). &)fhlp5
RESULTS 5KA
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The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for jN5} 2 p*
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which Occ8Hk/l.
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is !)l%EJngL
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the H *z0xxa
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the &zg$H,@Qp
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to hhh: rmEZl
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British +0JH"L5!
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the ;_Of`C+
British standardisation sample. Rd@n?qB
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH /4f 5s#hR
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD f"Vm'0r
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. NL>[8#
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means ?*MV
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than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. zd*W5~xKg
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of ~8n~4
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white }.Na{]<gh
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an f6aT[Nw<
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 T[8"u<O96
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean tSh}0N)
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by 1Q2k>q8
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater qKI4p3&E
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically G74a9li@
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. ,*O{jc`(
DISCUSSION EnsNO_"e|
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in hBY h90]
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States ?
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and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically X
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significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low )sz2 9
living standards in China. JE8p
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Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- \CEnOq
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by VK@i#/jm
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than v2W"+QS}u
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & `hQ!*f6
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the ys"mP*wD
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half ^r?sgJ
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 d
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IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this h#6 jUQ
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been :n%sU*'T
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in d9Ow 2KrC
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). (VF4FC
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US a_}BTkfHa
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 y 1jGf83
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and GQ8Dj!8
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back 9DP75 ti
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs 41+E U Mc
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living [>aoDJ
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be D+vl%(g
expected to increase further. \Im\*A