INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA d<*4)MRN
RICHARD LYNN .3;bUJ1
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland @G/':N
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore kBPFk t2
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of R=D\VIu,Z
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a mtfyhFk
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of to0tH^pD
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation %9_wDfw~
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. jgiP2k[Xom
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples v\9:
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have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the ETu7G5?
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed !U02>X
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally KR
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of Kd_WN;l
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies X^3 0a*sj
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean YK#
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IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained `_2#t1`u
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature TO\%F}m(
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by 5io7!%
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 Z&mV1dxR
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. J
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Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids <`dF~
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the -Q@jL{Ue
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest
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in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the //--r5Q
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high ;qI5GQ {
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been rT`D@
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determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn v}6YbY Tq
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be #Id.MLHxA_
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. &`7~vA&c
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial (vIrXF5Dnj
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become I3Sl>e(Z
available and are the subject of this report. nsyg>=j
METHOD 0/.#V*KM
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by "?j|;p@!>
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. :oB4\/(G#
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a V07x+ovq
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from V:42\b7x
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given 7YRDQjg
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables PVO9KWv**
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile YY
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equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the $Z;HE/3
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). oeXNb4; 4
RESULTS 3)f=Z2U>
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for hp(n;(OR
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which m[^;HwJ
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is X.0/F6U
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the dE5DH~ldV
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the _ED1".f
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to :,
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American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British #SY8Zv
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the X7kJWX
British standardisation sample. P
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TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH 4Uz:zB
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD \h^bO
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PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. ^v3+w"2
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means Y51XpcXQ
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. V>P\yr?
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of f5a%/1?
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white 0:G@a&Lr
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an QnxkD)f*0
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 gb:Cc,F,%
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean ?xf59mY7
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by
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calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater /3%]Ggwe
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically i:#R
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significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. BO\l>\)Ir
DISCUSSION 4x'^?0H@
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in AW'tZF"
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States 6\86E$f=h
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically 'OGOT0(
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low ;J\{r$q
living standards in China. <YL\E v/[
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- #},]`"n\
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by M
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middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than }jd[>
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their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & pmCBe6n\l
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the }jU{RR%6B
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half Oe9{`~
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 ;lGa.RD[
a
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this gx[#@(
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been jTws0=F*
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in 17D167\X
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). `Uk,5F5
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US sSG]I%oB3
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 hl~(&D1^
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and 5d}PrYa
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back 7k6rhf7H
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs mQ%kGqs
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living 9+QLcb
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be mS~3 QV
expected to increase further. `M>{43dj