INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA qdKh6{
RICHARD LYNN <?{ SU
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland o-~-F+mj#
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore no eb f
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of bBd *}"v^"
British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a
GE{8I<7c
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of rHH#@Zx
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation v\J!yz
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. c>M_?::)0
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples ytg7p 5{!i
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the C,V|TF.i2
United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed
>6n@\n
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally BASO$?jf4
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of N)`tI0/W
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies x*3@,GmZl
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean rjfc.l#v
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained h]G6~TYI5
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature ER0TY,
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by FuIWiO(
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 <t% Ao,"
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. Z`e$~n(Bh
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids ag|9$
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the Rh5@[cg%
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest *9\oD~2Y
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the F^4*|g
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high 0;.e#(`-
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been {9y9Kr|(P:
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn ;""-[4C
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be ch%Q'DR_I)
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. >?H_A
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial <!$j9) ~x
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become 1Al
=v
available and are the subject of this report. +3(CGNE
METHOD rjq -ZrC%
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by @`#OC#
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. O%rS;o
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a :
/n
?4K^
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from E;ndw/GZjR
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given lsTe*Od
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables A0'tCq]?0
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile Lx|w~+k}
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the EuhF$L1
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). ,Gf+
U7'K
RESULTS {'cs![U
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for !&W"f#_Z
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which "i;*\+x
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is uOy\{5s8
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the zW|$x<M^
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the oXu~9'm$
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to h5h-}qBA
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British XyN`BDFi
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the y}.y,\S0
British standardisation sample. _Eet2;9
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH ?)i6:76(
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD B'<O)"1w
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. s2,`eV
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means X7(rg W8
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. #$9U=^Z[
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of sIP6GWK$
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white ?etj.\q6
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an 9&?tQ"@x
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 LGdf_M-f
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean 7!]k#|u
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by \J#I}-a&j
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater &q kl*#]
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically F!DrZd>\
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. ?,A8 fR
DISCUSSION c/,|[t
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in L>|A6S#y8/
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States ,58kjTM
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically zwF7DnW<<
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low *R1d4|/G
living standards in China. &k {t0>
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- JC1BUheeb
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by ]}*G[[
^p
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than 476M` gA
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & sZ\i(eIU
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the y"{UNM|R
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half _A# x&<c
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 7]0\[9DyJ
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this )[a?J,
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been |wl")|b%
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in lBYS>4~
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). *;~{_Disz
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US i1kh@s~8UC
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 hU=f?jo/
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and O;.d4pO(tC
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back &QHA_+88W
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs DY%T`}
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living &AkzSgP
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be 2g`uC}
expected to increase further. `0-m`> 1>