INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA Il!iqDHz3
RICHARD LYNN ucTkWqG
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland iTD{
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore /Z
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and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of T_pE 'U%[
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a d
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standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of !5x"d7
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation WpRi+NC}ln
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. CKj3-rcF(
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples A*W QdY
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the 6?2/b`k
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed .nT
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in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally x}72jJ
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been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of ;0@"1`
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies I#9A\.pO
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean nLYyS#
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained l~!#<=.
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature h%#@Xd>.
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by D7 A{*Tm
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 60-LpGhvy
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5.
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Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids 'M YqCfIK
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the tBdvk>d
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest }K0.*+M
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the O=ci"2!\-
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high
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intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been |qfnbi-\
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn D`iWf3a.
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be 7M5HIK6_
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Q T
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Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial }i?P(
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for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become P
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available and are the subject of this report. :N(L7&<
METHOD IC7n;n9
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by Wu%;{y~#}
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. G| ^tqI
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a
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stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from .3oFSc`q
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given LTG/gif[u
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables &9IMZAo
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile _/7[=e}y
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the bMf+/n
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). 2L ~U^
RESULTS -H{c@hl
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for lAV6z%MmM
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which dc"Vc 3)
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is HA"LU;5>2J
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the DH@*Oz-
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the $
5
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to vP?"MG
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British }Li24JK
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the BB=%tz`B
British standardisation sample. cYW F)WAog
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH Ci=c"JdB
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD IN),Lu0K
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. ,NKDEcw]
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means X2Y-TET
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. XW`&1qx
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of X=_N7!
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white ;\(wJ{u?Y
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an ,c}Q;eYc3
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 H#G'q_uHH
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean >e"1a/2%>&
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by n(-XI&Kn
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater Va?wG3 w
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically RVX-3FvP
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. ;w[|IRa
DISCUSSION ExV>s* y
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in z_CBOJl#C!
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States c7'I'~
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically 2~~Q NWN
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low z&9vKF
living standards in China. sm/l'e
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- rn U2EL
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by <eb>/ D
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than (T!Q
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & `[/B
G)4
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the " ?n~ /9`
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half =@&]PYv
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 o=4d2V%m
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this ,]1K^UeZ
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been h,0mJj-ma
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in *_3+ DF
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 WZ;f3
"
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 .u)Po;e`
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and ;&?NuK
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back {>>f5o3
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs FG1$_zN |
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living a4O!q;tu7
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be ^~8l|d_
expected to increase further. _D[vMr[