INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA zqq$PaH*
RICHARD LYNN X5@rPGc
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland vk:m>?(
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore U
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and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of O*<,lq 0K
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a 0CYm%p8!
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of D:uBr|('
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation D/jS4'$vA
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. /FZ@Z]Q0G
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples CENA!W
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have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the k($N_XlE
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed y3
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in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally Cu%|}xq
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of [y>;[K
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies tcg sXB/t
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean d45JT?qg&
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained }v [$uT-q
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature )32BM+f"77
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by >,8DwNuq
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 jocu=Se@
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. 4Qr16,Us
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids Z
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in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the X3KPN
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest C#5z!z/:%
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the C?Sy
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homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high ]<0|"NL
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been XK)qDg
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn az (u=}
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be <%(nF+rQA"
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Jmln*,Ol7
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial h5bQ
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become O; qerE?i`
available and are the subject of this report. B_k[N}|zD
METHOD !9l
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A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by <B;l).[6
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. H\f.a R=
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a r lalr+Rf
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from 5]WpH0kzO
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given 5o~
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in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables ,qgph^C
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile rZDmZm?=
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the ,$,6%"'"
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). t`
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RESULTS +_8*;k@F'
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for r@3VN~
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which <Gy)|qpK[
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is "%aJ'l2
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the 7W[}7Y
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the k,xY\r$
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to 'm@0[i
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British qbjLTE=
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the |wKC9 O@%
British standardisation sample. i;
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TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH ,y[wS5li
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD r^?Q o
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. \e5bxc
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means '3f"#fF6
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. sskwJu1
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of +2kJuoj:
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white h sVf/%
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an d/8I&{.
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 ;}b.gpG
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean @)>9l&
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 g4WN+y`
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically 7_WD)Y2yS
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. |0?h6
DISCUSSION j*m7&wOE
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in IYq)p
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mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States *dn~-W.
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically ZJ9J*5!C
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low .0:twj
living standards in China. DiyviH
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- k0{5)Su"xr
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by .kSx>3
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than 5-Vdq
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & igp[cFN
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the Y!LcS48X
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half _2V L%
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 Si#b"ls'
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this %aU4d
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rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been dnVl;L8L3
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in {I
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the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). /s3AZ j9
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US Gb6t`dSzz
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 u/e-m/
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and [XWY-q#Gg
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back `<Xq@\H
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs +A 6xY
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living }qlU
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be 'dYjbQ}~;
expected to increase further. =dD<[Iz6