There are few topics within the world of psychology that arouse as much controversy as the study and evaluation of human intelligence . The dispute about whether it is possible to measure a person’s intelligence on the basis of a single construct or whether there really is a general intelligence continues to this day.

However, tests that attempt to measure human intelligence are among the most widely used in any field of assessment. Being the Raven matrix test one of the most acclaimed and used for its ease of application and versatility.

What is the Raven’s Progressive Matrix Test?

The Raven’s progressive matrix test is a well-known test used in the psychological and educational field. This test designed in 1938 by the English psychologist John C. Raven, had the objective of calculating the “G” factor of intelligence and its administration was restricted to the officers of the United States Navy.

The intelligence “G” factor refers to the general intelligence that conditions any execution or problem solving , and is common to all skills that require an intellectual component. This factor evidences the ability of a person to carry out intellectual work.

The main characteristic of this test is to encourage analytical reasoning, perception and capacity for abstraction. Furthermore, as it is a non-verbal test, it makes use of the comparison between forms and reasoning by analogy, without the need for the person to have a previous culture or knowledge.

There are currently different versions of this test, which are administered according to the age and abilities of the person being evaluated. These three versions are:
The General Scale for people between 12 and 65 years old

  • Progressive color matrices for children between 3 and 8 years old with some kind of intellectual functional diversity
  • Advanced matrices for the evaluation of people with above-average abilities

Test characteristics

There are a number of distinctive features that have made this test one of the most widely used. These characteristics are found at the level of administration, objectives and reliability

1. Objective

Another of the objectives of the Raven’s Progressive Matrices Test is to measure a person’s educational capacity , which we will explain later, by comparing forms and using reasoning by analogy; all of this independently of the knowledge previously acquired by the subject.

2. Material

This is a test that uses series of abstract and incomplete geometric figures that are presented to the person gradually and with ascending difficulty. The test can be administered by means of printed cards or virtually.

3. Administration

Another advantage of this test is that it can be self-administered, as well as administered both individually and collectively.

The application time for this test is between 30 and 60 minutes, however it is usually completed within 45 minutes of its start.

4. Reliability and validity

Finally, as for the reliability and validity of this test it presents a 0.87-0.81 reliability, while in validity an index of 0.86 was obtained. These data were obtained with Kuder-Richardson’s formulas and Terman Merrill’s criteria.

In what contexts is this test administered?

The Raven’s progressive matrix test is used as a basic and applied evaluation instrument, and its administration can be extended to many different fields. However, the contexts in which this test is most commonly used are

  • Educational establishments
  • Career guidance and recruitment centres
  • Psychological clinics
  • Psychological, sociological and anthropological research centres
  • Military and defence contexts

Test objective: educational ability

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, one of the main objectives of the test is to test and measure a person’s educational ability.

This educational capacity refers to the ability of people to find relationships and correlates within information that is presented in a disorganized and unsystematized manner in which these relationships are not immediately evident.

Educational ability is associated with the intellectual capacity to compare images and representations, as well as with analogical reasoning , regardless of the cultural or knowledge level that the person possesses.

This ability constitutes the most important spring in high-level cognitive functioning, which is involved in the various processes of abstraction. Likewise, if we compare it with other related concepts, the ability to educate is the one that most resembles fluid intelligence.

What is this test based on? Spearman’s bifactorial theory

The English-born psychologist Charles Spearman established the existence of a general intelligence in the year 10904. Based on his research, Spearman indicated that the “G” factor of intelligence was the main factor in charge of a person’s general intellectual performance.

Spearman believed that if a person is able to excel in certain areas or cognitive activities, he is likely to do so in almost all areas as well. For example, a person with good scores on numerical tests is very likely to also score high on logic tests or verbal tests.

As a result, he developed a theory known as Bifactorial Theory, according to which within human intelligence two fundamental parameters can be distinguished: the general factor or “G” factor and the special factor or “S” factor.

G” Factor

The general factor refers to a personal and possibly hereditary quality . It consists of a special attribute of the brain that differs from one person to another but remains stable throughout the person’s life.

S” Factor

This factor covers the specific skills or abilities that a person possesses to cope with any type of task . Unlike the “G” factor, it differs according to the person’s previous education and cannot be extrapolated to other fields.

However, there is not little controversy around these constructs, since some sectors maintain the idea that there cannot be a general idea of intelligence and that this is only a sample of the opportunities that a person has had to learn certain skills or acquire certain knowledge.