Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-bt4hw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T12:55:40.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reaction times and intelligence: a comparison of Chinese-American and Anglo-American children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Arthur R. Jensen  and
Patricia A. Whang
Arthur R. Jensen
Affiliation:
School of Education, University of California, Berkeley
Patricia A. Whang
Affiliation:
Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology, Auburn University, Alabama, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Chinese-American and Anglo-American school children were compared on a nonverbal test of intelligence (Raven's Progressive Matrices) and on twelve chronometric variables which measure the speed with which basic information processes (e.g. stimulus apprehension, decision, and discrimination) can be carried out. All of these tasks are correlated with psychometric intelligence. The two groups differed significantly on most of the variables, but the differences appear to be multidimensional and are not simply due to a group difference in psychometric intelligence, equivalent to about 5 IQ points in favour of the Chinese-Americans. The results are compared with those of Lynn and his colleagues on British, Japanese, and Hong Kong children, and both consistencies and inconsistencies are found.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , July 1993 , pp. 397 - 410
Copyright
Copyright © 1993, Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Eysenck, H. J. (Ed.) (1982) A Model for Intelligence. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harman, H. H. (1976) Modern Factor Analysis, 3rd edn. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
Jensen, A. R. (1986) Methodological and statistical techniques for the chronometric study of mental abilities. In: Methodological and Statistical Advances in the Study of Individual Differences. Edited by Reynolds, C. R & Willson, V. L. Plenum, New York.Google Scholar
Jensen, A. R. (1988) Speed of information processing and population differences. In: Human Abilities in Cultural Context. Edited by Irvine, S. H & Berry, J. W. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Jensen, A. R. (1993a) The importance of intraindividual variation in reaction time. Person. indiv. Diff. 13, 869.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, A. R. (1993b) Spearman's hypothesis tested with chronometric information-processing tasks. Intelligence, 17, 47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jensen, A. R. & Reed, T. E. (1990) Simple reaction time as a suppressor variable in the chronometric study of intelligence. Intelligence, 14, 375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kranzler, J. H. & Jensen, A. R. (1991) The nature of psychometric g: unitary process or a number of independent processes? Intelligence, 15, 397.Google Scholar
Lynn, R., Chan, J. W. C. & Eysenck, H. J. (1991) Reaction times and intelligence in Chinese and British children. Perc. motor Skills, 72, 443.Google Scholar
Lynn, R. & Holmshaw, M. (1990) Black–white differences in reaction times and intelligence. Soc. Behav. Pers. 18, 299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynn, R. & Shigehisa, T. (1991) Reaction times and intelligence: a comparison of Japanese and British children. J. biosoc. Sci. 23, 409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vernon, P. A. (Ed.) (1987) Speed of Information Processing and Intelligence. Ablex, Norwood, NJ.Google Scholar