INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA ITE{@1
RICHARD LYNN knu,"<
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland ?yrX)3hyH
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore vsCCB}7\
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of =1FRFZI!j
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a 1y4|{7bb
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of q 6:dy
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation :}L[sl\R
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00.
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A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples '%s.^kn
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the
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United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed i^X]
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in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally 4
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been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of %B2'~|g
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies $-OA'QwB]
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean #vz7y(v
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained e8>})
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature VZp5)-!\
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by !_]Y~[
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 .KB^3pOpx
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. 2@n{yYwy
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids :;RMo2Tl
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the YFLZ %(
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest XO>KZV7)
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the LiC*@W
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high YiXk5B0Uh
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been 2RVN\?s:
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn 7X`g,b!
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be )!th7sH
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. WrnrFz
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial ^H p; .f.
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become .wEd"A&j
available and are the subject of this report. *<$*"p
METHOD +xh`Q=A
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by L4@K~8j7
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. 6+#Ydii9E
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a MD}w Y><C
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from f&NgS+<K$
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given pxA?
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables EKYY6S2
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile 7cuE7"
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the WA<v9#m
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). t>L2
RESULTS QGMV}y
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for G*?8MTP8![
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which a(m2n.0'>
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is a
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possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the 8 `v-<J
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the N~nziY*C,*
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to ]{;gw<T
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British $g^@AdE%
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the ]}>2D,;
British standardisation sample. Z\(q@3 C
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH -vAC"8)S
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD +r
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. u4*BX&
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means 3<e=g)F
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. Yj<a"
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The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of &pxg.
3
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white J@/kIrx
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an 6gU96Z
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 pE3
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and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean juP7P[d$qW
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by \,'m</o~,
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater Oz75V|D
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically H9Gh>u]}
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. R)?*N@.s
DISCUSSION ,5P0S0*{
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in [CTnXb
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States +WZX.D
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically k`
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significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low F0m-23[H
living standards in China. [@_Jj3`4
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- Ucb F|vkI
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by (=FRmdeYl1
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than .o6Or:L
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & (fhb0i-
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the 4V"E8rUL(
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half CmWeY$Jb
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 j}#w)M
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this Q8$}@iA[
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been "-E\[@/
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in &.F4b~A7
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). `{gHA+B
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US nd`1m[7MNu
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 PioZIb/{
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and %6t:(z
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back ./XYd"p
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs Qry@
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were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living ;'gW
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standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be JB\UKZXw
expected to increase further. Q*GN`07@?d