Raven's Progressive Matrices

Raven's Progressive Matrices (also Abstract Reasoning Test) are widely used non-verbal intelligence tests. In each test item, one is asked to find the missing pattern in a series. Each set of items gets progressively harder, requiring greater cognitive capacity to encode and analyze. The test is considered by many intelligence experts to be one of the most g-loaded in existence.

The matrices are offered in three different forms for different ability levels, and for age ranges from five through adult:


 * Coloured Progressive Matrices (younger children and special groups)
 * Standard Progressive Matrices (average 6 to 80 year olds)
 * Advanced Progressive Matrices (above average adolescents & adults)

According to their publisher, "The matrices measure two complementary components of general intelligence: the ability to think clearly and make sense of complex data, which is known as eductive ability; and the ability to store and reproduce information, known as reproductive ability."

Adequate standardization of RPM is cited as a major factor for its widespread use. It appears to measure a type of reasoning ability which appears to be useful in the mathematical area. Thus, has the predictive validity for quantifying the mathematical mind of a person. Although it is criticized for being costly, it provides a differentiated information about a student's range of hidden abilities that maybe useful for a potential academic success. The inclusion of the RPM in an identification battery broadens the range of abilities assessed.

John Carlyle Raven first published his Progressive Matrices in the United Kingdom in 1938. His three sons established Scotland-based test publisher J C Raven Ltd. in 1972. In 2004, Harcourt Assessment, Inc. acquired J C Raven Ltd.