INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA B~K@o.%
RICHARD LYNN FJDx80J
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland #q'J`BC
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore P~/Glak
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of xs y5"
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a ys`"-o[*
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of :_E=&4&g
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation 6K501!70g6
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. zRSIJ!A~
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples 8R<2I1xn2
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the x8YuX*/I
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed OBp<A+a
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally
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been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of bBA
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intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies `./$hh
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean T{-<G13
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained = s^KZV
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature mcvd/
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by CBz$N) f
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 f mu `o-
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. VX0q!Q
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids #\U;,r
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the .G8+D%%.
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest j#mo Vq
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the ?.Z4GWyXa
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high !8S$tk
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been <
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determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn ;K]6/Wt
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be 5xKo(XNp
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. h8OmO5/H
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial |zhVl
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become r!A1Sfo4P
available and are the subject of this report. J%]</J
METHOD R+
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A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by OIPJN8V
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. (`<X9w,
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a 32j@6!
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from i7]\}w|
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given w ryjs!
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables 3~v'Ev
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile I,J*\)-%J
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the *F7ksLH|q
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). oRmz'F
RESULTS (|H1zO
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for OE_;i}58
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which qk
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to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is Ni"n_Yun
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the RS'!>9I
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the SKO*x^"eU
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to =w&JDj
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British F}
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children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the $*a'[Qot#
British standardisation sample. !@j5 yYf
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH cYHHCaCS
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD N6yPuH
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. g*]Gc%
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means 7J?`gl&C
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. 5R"My^G
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of Ch;C\H:X
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white %6c[\ubr
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an ~Iw7Xq E2
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 9,8}4Y=GVI
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean #'s}=i}y"C
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by rBR,lS$4
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater q {v?2v{
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically /sHWJ?`&/,
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. Fv_rDTo
DISCUSSION IjJO;
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in X633.]+
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States {oQ.y
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically t*X
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significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low *UM=EQaYk
living standards in China. "\0&1C(G
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- V}de|=
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by 5y3V duE
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than 6yZ!K
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & cZ>h [XX[
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the &)Y26*(`
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half .[YM0dt
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 &,~0*&r0
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this |oCE7'BaP
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been M;s r1C
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in rm}OV
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the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990).
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In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US 8JYF0r7
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 lxsBXX Zg
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and W6cA@DN$#
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back gG5@ KD6k
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs ,|RS]I>X
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living !\D[lh}rL
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be ]!l]^/.
expected to increase further. 3@xn<eu