INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA RcYUO*
RICHARD LYNN \Bo$
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University of Ulster, Northern Ireland IJ Jp5[w
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore yNI0
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and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of Vm%G
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British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a #~
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standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of @ VWED
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation aKj|
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to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. c1Ks{%iA
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples
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have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the TE
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United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed ~Zr}QO}G
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally OFtaOjsyUa
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of FOk&z!xYKd
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies &ksuk9M
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean 'zYS:W
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained #^T`vTD-
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature qX@e+&4P0
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by _LaG%* R6
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 QY;(Ny/(y
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. NH/A`Wm
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids cUR :a@
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the cfIC(d
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest }t^wa\
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the IhNX~Jg'^
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high pCE
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intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been <\#'o}
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn l 2Sar1~1
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be O)
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applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. roQI;gq^
Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial cACIy yQ
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become .y
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available and are the subject of this report. Tw-NIT)
METHOD E
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A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by 1$0Kvvg[
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. +YvF+E
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a \ptO4E
stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from E;a,].
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given =ANr|d
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables On*I.~
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile 8B GZ
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the }B-$}
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). >?@5>wF
RESULTS Ih.+-!w
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for y RxrfAdS
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which NVMn7H}>
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is MH.+pqIv^
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the H7+"BWc
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the t(3
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percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to =>
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American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British :+"4_f0
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the ogFo/TKM
British standardisation sample. B/4M;G~
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH
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AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD YZf{."Opj[
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. ps<Ef
It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means yI^Yh{
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. W:i Q&[f
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of 0f@+o}i=)
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white .aNh>`OT'
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an h?xgOb!4
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 )V1xL_hx/
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean 8$}<4 `39
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by > Z+*tq
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater F+hV'{|w`
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically nYx
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significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant.
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DISCUSSION MZt#T+b
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in :`N&BV
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States ;U(]#pW!t
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically {?`rGJ{f
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low ,?8a3%
living standards in China. nq!=9r
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- /GgID
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ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by dEk#"cvg
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than AY52j
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & i6#*y!3{
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the :TTq
economically developed western nations over the course of the last half 1X)#
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century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 d~<$J9%
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this Y(Qb)>K
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been (9u`(|x
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in .+9*5
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). +Csb8
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US {bXN[=j
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 !gkr?yhE
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and 77M!2S_E
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back M+&~sX*a
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs 2'fd4rE5
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living 6y^
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standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be {?yVA
expected to increase further. 6(QfD](2}