INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA K}U}h>N
RICHARD LYNN Mb(aI!;A
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland ^KJIT3J(#
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore zk@KuBLL
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of NwdA@"YQ|
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a 43Yav+G(+
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of <j.bG 7
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation DN@T4!
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. X|7Y|0o
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples :d<;h:^_
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the )5
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United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed ivbuS-f=r
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 &V&0kp@+
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies
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of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean #`mo
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IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained \Podyh/;?
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature rsR0V+(W
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by FPu"/4v&
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 O9k9h
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and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. ?b~V uo
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids :,=no>mMx
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the Hs+VA$$*
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest Xo*=iD$Jys
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the /0mbG!Ac
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high [a*m9F\ ,
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been e/m,PE
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn ccJ@jpXI
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be mq?5|`
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. x.+}-(`W#~
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial TK;*:K8oe
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become 8 JUUK(&Z
available and are the subject of this report. 8uX1('+T*
METHOD +M6qbIO
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by rQbL86+
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. (Ia} ]q
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a *Ki ],>_~
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from $Rsf`*0-
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given 1;[\xqJ
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables qF(F<$B
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile gC#PqK~
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the q@p-)+D;
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). J..>ApX
RESULTS Y$ ;C@I
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for _e=R[
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which RTNUHz;{L
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is u4=j!Zb8}
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the cRX0i;zag
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the XnQo0
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percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to # a
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American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British % zs 1v]
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the @U%I 6 t
British standardisation sample. ubIGs|p2c
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH V,($I'&/
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD +xwz
.:::
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. b$nXljV4?
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means Mrp'wF
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than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. d9[*&[2J|
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of Wr7^
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white +'?p $@d
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an OedL?4
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 vS:%(Y"!<
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean Nf>1`eP
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by 85l 1
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater 7{:| )
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically l'(Cxhf.W
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. IBWUeB:b
DISCUSSION #{GUu',?&
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in 2i4FIS|z0
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States {hX.R
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically uRQm.8b
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low 3C8'0DB
living standards in China. Rv6{'\:
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- U6"U^
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by >
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middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than N
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their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & LF0gy3
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the T"'"T]^
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economically developed western nations over the course of the last half hq/\'Z&!+P
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 5f7;pS<
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this c/I.`@
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been "';'*x
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in I;L$Nf{v
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). _`L,}=um'
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US j[yGfDb
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 uYS?# g
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and bv>;%TF
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back sf]y\_zU
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs 0i9y-32-
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living LKG],1n-
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be EW1L!3K
expected to increase further. W?G4\ubM3<