INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA ';zS0Yk
RICHARD LYNN PfjD!=yS=h
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland
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Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore 6R#.AD\
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of k
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British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a %pj T?G7
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of lEXI<b'2
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation =Ohro'
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. K)N'~jCG
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples 0@>
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the vf0
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United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed -jWXE
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally Ev]oPCeA
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of #I}w$j
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intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies (MzThGJK_
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean AOv>O52F/Q
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained awU&{<,=g
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature +.
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on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by )'i n}M
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 9][A1+"
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. ]Wg&r Y0
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids zXaA5rZO
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the ',m!L@7M5
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest ,{Ga7rH*
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the r<OqI*7
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high RXw }Tb/D8
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been +HkEbR'G0
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn #&,~5
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be `dJ?j[
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applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
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Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial w:h([q4X
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become qlm7eS"sy
available and are the subject of this report. Y.KJP ?
METHOD ZfVw33z
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by #ja6nt8GC
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. <V1y^EW0
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a u3C0!{v
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from s)~Wcp'+M:
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given %(A@=0r#
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables AB=Wj*fr
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile 4Hq6nT/
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the -GODM128 ^
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). <Gj]XAoe%
RESULTS mt\pndTy7!
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for [vn"r^P
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which on.m
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to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is &xE+PfX
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the 3eN(Sw@p
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the #3}!Q0
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to EYR%u'&7'
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British AsO)BeUD
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the 1k!$#1d<
British standardisation sample. 9S/X ,|i
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH Q`!<2i;
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD D!rD-e
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. ;T3}#Q*qC
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means \2[sUY<W
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. 3U4h>T@s|
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of kJ"}JRA<
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white (nAg
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Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an &UIS