Recreating Raven’s: Software for systematically generating large numbers of Raven-like matrix problems with normed properties

Raven’s Progressive Matrices is a widely used test for assessing intelligence and reasoning ability (Raven, Court, & Raven, 1998). Since the test is nonverbal, it can be applied to many different populations and has been used all over the world (Court & Raven, 1995). However, relatively few matrices are in the sets developed by Raven, which limits their use in experiments requiring large numbers of stimuli. For the present study, we analyzed the types of relations that appear in Raven’s original Standard Progressive Matrices (SPMs) and created a software tool that can combine the same types of relations according to parameters chosen by the experimenter, to produce very large numbers of matrix problems with specific properties. We then conducted a norming study in which the matrices we generated were compared with the actual SPMs. This study showed that the generated matrices both covered and expanded on the range of problem difficulties provided by the SPMs.     

Analogical reasoning ability in autistic and typically developing children

Recent studies (e.g. Dawson et al., 2007 ) have reported that autistic people perform in the normal range on the Raven Progressive Matrices test, a formal reasoning test that requires integration of relations as well as the ability to infer rules and form high‐level abstractions. Here we compared autistic and typically developing children, matched on age, IQ, and verbal and non‐verbal working memory, using both the Raven test and pictorial tests of analogical reasoning. Whereas the Raven test requires only formal analogical reasoning, the other analogy tests require use of real‐world knowledge, as well as inhibition of salient distractors. We found that autistic children performed as well as controls on all these tests of reasoning with relations. Our findings indicate that the basic ability to reason systematically with relations, for both abstract and thematic materials, is intact in autism.     

Training effects on Raven's progressive matrices in young, middle-aged, and elderly adults

Previous training studies of fluid intellectual abilities have involved training on either figural relations or induction tasks. In the present study, young, middle-aged, and elderly adults were given training on another measure of fluid ability--Raven's Progressive Matrices. The training involved a strategy-modeling technique that lasted no more than a few minutes. The results indicated that (a) performance on the Raven decreased with increasing age, (b) training significantly improved performance, and (c) the effect of training did not differ as a function of the age or sex of the subjects. Thus, the results indicate that performance on the Raven can be significantly improved in a single, brief training session.     

What one intelligence test measures: a theoretical account of the processing in the Raven Progressive Matrices Test

The cognitive processes in a widely used, nonverbal test of analytic intelligence, the Raven Progressive Matrices Test (Raven, 1962), are analyzed in terms of which processes distinguish between higher scoring and lower scoring subjects and which processes are common to all subjects and all items on the test. The analysis is based on detailed performance characteristics, such as verbal protocols, eye-fixation patterns, and errors. The theory is expressed as a pair of computer simulation models that perform like the median or best college students in the sample. The processing characteristic common to all subjects is an incremental, reiterative strategy for encoding and inducing the regularities in each problem. The processes that distinguish among individuals are primarily the ability to induce abstract relations and the ability to dynamically manage a large set of problem-solving goals in working memory.     

Relationships between working memory and intelligence from a developmental perspective: Convergent evidence from a neo-Piagetian and a psychometric approach

The objective of this paper, in line with the other papers of this special issue, is to show the potentialities of combining intelligence research and cognitive psychology. The development of intelligence is here addressed from two usually separate perspectives, a psychometric one, and a neo-Piagetian one. Two studies are presented. In Experiment 1, children aged 6, 7, 9, and 11 years (N = 100) were administered two working memory tasks and three Piagetian tasks. In Experiment 2, children aged 8–12 years (N = 207), young adults aged 20–35 (N = 160), and older adults aged 60–88 years (N = 135) were administered working memory and processing speed tasks, as well as the Raven Standard Matrices task. Regression and commonality analyses were run to analyse the age-related variance in the Piagetian tasks (Study 1), and in the Raven task (Study 2). In both experiments, working memory accounted for a large part of the age differences observed, but more so in Study 1 (Piagetian tasks) than in Study 2 (Raven task). It is concluded that working memory mediates the effect of age on fluid intelligence during childhood and during adulthood.     

Solving and Creating Raven Progressive Matrices: Reasoning in Well- and Ill-Defined Problem Spaces

We studied the development of creative cognition in children ranging from nursery school to Grade 6 (4–12 yr old, N = 511), performing a problem generation task. The task involved inventing a novel item for a classical problem solving task they had completed beforehand: the Raven Progressive Matrices (RPM). This task and the generating task both comprise matrixes of components, to which a set of transformational relations are applied; only in the first case these are inferred to solve a puzzle, but in the second they are invented to create one. We analyzed the matrixes invented in the generation task and compared them to those of the original solving task. We observed that (a) both in solving and generation, the ability to combine more than 1 relation increased with grade level, (b) within all 8 grades, except Grades 3 and 6, performance was uncorrelated between both tasks, (c) relations that were applied in the generation task often did feature in the solving task, and (d) relations occurring in both tasks were applied with different frequencies. Overall, we conclude that standard problem solving ability is not a precondition for creative reasoning and that the comprehension of relations between components featured in solving task differs from that applied in generation.     

Evaluation and Comparison of Three Instruments Designed to Measure Organizational Power and Influence Tactics

The purpose of the present study is to assess the internal consistency and construct validity of three instruments measuring the use of influence tactics. Instruments by Frost and Stahelski (1988) and Hinkin and Schriesheim (1989) had been developed to be psychometrically sound measures of the French and Raven (1959) bases of power. Kipnis and Schmidt (1982a) developed a new typology to measure organizational influence, the Profile of Organizational Influence Strategies (POIS). Four hundred seventy-nine undergraduate students completed these instruments to describe the influence tactics used by their supervisor. Results indicated that the Hinkin and Schriesheim instrument has greater internal consistency and a more precisely defined factor structure than the Frost and Stahelski instrument. The corresponding scales of the two instruments measuring the French and Raven power bases are not highly correlated, suggesting that the two instruments are not equivalent. Furthermore, the pattern of correlations between scales of the three instruments suggests that neither the French and Raven not the POIS typology fully represents the structure of influence tactics.     

Correlations among measures of cognitive ability, creativity, and academic achievement for gifted minority children

This study explored the correlations among nonverbal reasoning ability, creativity, and academic achievement in gifted minority children, 89 girls and 71 boys in Grades 1 through 8 in a program for gifted. A random half of students from all grade levels were tested at the beginning of the year and the remaining half after 7 mo. with Raven Progressive Matrices, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, and the California Achievement Test. Pearson correlations reflected limited relations among these variables except for a significant positive value between creativity and reading achievement. Suggestions for further study and implications for identification procedures and program development were provided.     

Conceptualizing and Measuring a Power/Interaction Model of Interpersonal Influence1

In response to new theoretical conceptualizations (Raven, 1992, 1993), an instrument was developed to measure 11 bases of power, the original 6 French and Raven (1959; Raven, 1965) bases of power, with 3 of these further differentiated: reward (personal, impersonal), coercion (personal. impersonal), legitimate (position, reciprocity, equity, dependence), expert, referent, and information. In Study 1, 317 American student respondents rated the likelihood that each of these power bases contributed to a supervisor successfully influencing a subordinate in a series of hypothetical situations. The internal consistency of the items which made up the 11 power bases proved adequate. Factor analysis found 7 factors and 2 categories of bases: harsh and soft. In Study 2, which used 101 Israeli health workers, the earlier findings were generally supported. In addition, job satisfaction was found to be positively related to the attribution of soft bases to the supervisor.     

A comparative study of general intelligence in Spanish and Moroccan samples

The aim of this study is to fill a gap in intelligence research by presenting data for the average IQ in Morocco and for a comparable sample in Spain. Adult samples were administered the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) (Raven, Court, & Raven, 2001) and scored for the total test and for the three sub-factors of gestalt continuation, verbal-analytical reasoning and visuospatial ability identified by Lynn, Allik, and Irwing (2004). The total test and the three factors have shown satisfactory reliability. Our results for the Moroccan sample show significant relationship between general intelligence factor, gestalt continuation and visuospatial ability with education level and income. Conversely, these variables have been shown to be independent for the Spanish sample. This sample obtained significantly higher scores for the four factors assessed than the Moroccan one. These differences have been found also comparing samples with the same education levels. Finally, the errors percentage for Moroccans has been higher than for Spaniards in all the items, suggesting that the level of difficulty was higher for the Moroccan sample.     

Stratégies identitaires et structuration des relations de pouvoir en milieu carcéral

This qualitative study explores power between supervisors and of young prisoners in prison. We study the relation between the identity strategies and the use of power by the actors. The data reveal that the relations are primarily based on the exchange between the supervisors and the prisoners. The bases of power used by the supervisors depend on the way in which it reacts to the bad image they have in the institution. In the same way, the supervisors hold account of the situation to control prisoners. These results are discussed by reference to the IPIM model of Raven.     

Recognition memory in hearing-impaired children: A levels-of-processing approach

Eighty-nine hearing-impaired children ranging in age from 6 years to 12 years, 11 months were given a recognition task comprised of items from the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices and the Raven Learning Potential Test following administration of the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices. The study was designed to determine whether recognition memory varied as a function of item type. The analysis indicated that performance on items involving analogous reasoning exceeded recognition for items requiring pattern completion through closure, which, in turn, exceeded performance for items involving simple pattern completion. Results are discussed in light of levels-of-processing.     

The effects of dynamic assessment procedures on Raven Matrices performance,visual search behavior,test anxiety and test orientation

The effects of dynamic testing procedures on Raven Coloured Matrices performance, visual scanning procedures, test anxiety, and orientation to the test situation were assessed. The subjects were 72 third-grade children. The results supported the hypotheses of the study showing that (1) dynamic assessment procedures involving either verbalization or elaborated feedback lead to higher levels of Raven Matrices performance; that (2) dynamic assessment modifies visual search behaviors; and that (3) dynamic assessment reduces test anxiety and negative orientation to the testing situation. The results are interpreted as offering construct validation to the assessment approaches used.     

On the validity of Raven’s matrices test: Does spatial ability contribute to performance?

The paper reports on an investigation of the convergent and discriminant validity of Raven’s matrices in considering reasoning and spatial abilities. Raven’s advanced progressive matrices (APM) and four scales representing reasoning, visualization, mental rotation and closure were applied to a sample of N = 280 university students. The data were investigated by means of structural equation modeling. The results demonstrated convergent validity of APM with respect to reasoning. In contrast, in investigating discriminant validity substantial correlations of moderate size between APM and the scales representing spatial abilities were observed. However, the investigation of the structure of the prediction of APM revealed that the scales representing spatial abilities did not improve the prediction based on the reasoning scale alone at the latent level. Consequently, it is suggested that Raven’s matrices show good convergent validity and slightly impaired discriminant validity.     

Reaction time,movement time,and intelligence: A replication and extension

The purpose of the investigation was to replicate and extend a study by Jensen and Munro which found reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) parameters to correlate negatively and moderately with Raven matrices performance. A sample of 20 ninth-grade girls was used. Relationships between RT and MT and Raven scores were found to be negative and moderate to high, thus replicating the Jensen and Munro study. In addition, moderate to strong negative correlations were found between RT and MT parameters and reading comprehension and performance on the California Test of Basic Skills. Weaker relationships were found for mathematics and English grades although the direction was consistently negative.     

超常与普通儿童元记忆知识发展的实验研究

本研究主要探讨超常儿童与普通儿童早期元记忆知识的发展。运用对偶图片对被试的个体变量、项目变量、过程变量、策略变量、遗忘与回忆变量知识分别进行了考察。结果表明,5—7岁儿童是元记忆知识快速发展的时期,每一年龄组儿童的元记忆知识总体水平都显著地高于低一年龄组的儿童;超常儿童的元记忆知识水平均与高一年龄组的普通儿童基本相同,与超常儿童发展的单一优势模式相吻合。     

Stereotype Threat Effects on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Scores of African Americans1

The present experiment examined stereotype threat effects on the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices (Raven) scores of African Americans. Support was found for Hypothesis 1, which stated that African Americans would experience significantly greater stereotype threat than Whites during an IQ testing situation. Hypothesis 2 proposed that a significant Race x Test Diagnosticity Condition interaction would occur in which the mean difference in intelligence test scores between African Americans and Whites (favoring the latter group) would be largest when the test was framed as a measure of intelligence, and smaller when framed as nonindicative of intelligence. Limited support for Hypothesis 2 was found in that a marginally significant Race x Test Diagnosticity Condition interaction was obtained. However, the interaction failed to reach conventional levels of statistical significance. Although preliminary, the present findings provide some support for the notion that stereotype threat compromises the intelligence test performance of African Americans.     

Dynamic assessment of intelligence is a better reply to adaptive behavior and cognitive plasticity

In the present study, the author conducted 3 experiments to examine the dynamic testing of potential intelligence. She investigated the relationship between dynamic measures and other factors such as (a) static measures of intelligence (Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices Test [J. C. Raven, J. H. Court, & J. Raven, 1979] and the D48 [J. D. Black, 1961]) and (b) codifying speed, codifying accuracy, and school performance. The participants were kindergarten children (n = 150), primary school children (n = 287), and teenaged students (n = 198) who were all trained to master problem solving tests with dynamic measures of intelligence. The results showed that dynamic measures predict more accurately the relationships of codifying speed, codifying accuracy, and school performance.     

Toward a differential testing approach: Testing-the-limits employing the Raven matrices

Various testing-the-limits procedures were employed in administering the Raven Coloured Progressive Matrices Test to 203 second grade and 230 fourth grade children. Tests of impulsivity, neuroticism, extroversion, intelligence and school achievement were also given. The main results showed that testing-the-limits procedures which involved verbalization and feedback were efficacious in maximizing performance on the Raven. The puzzle form of the test generally led to higher scores than the picture version for the second but not fourth graders. Differential analyses were carried out to establish how construct, concurrent and predictive validity of the Raven were affected by the salient testing-the-limits procedures involved. Analysis was also done with the personality variables and revealed how their effect interacted with various test administration procedures. The results were discussed in theoretical and practical terms.     

A dissociation between the sense of familiarity and access to semantic information concerning familiar people

In the current study we examined the relationship between working memory capacity, inhibition/susceptibility to interference and fluid intelligence, measured by the Raven's Progressive Matrices (PM38), comparing groups of young (aged 18–35), young-old (aged 65–74), and old-old (aged 75–86) participants. Groups were administered two working memory tasks tapping into different mechanisms involved in working memory. The ability to control for irrelevant information was measured both considering memory errors (intrusion errors) in a working memory task and an index of susceptibility to interference obtained with a variant of the Brown-Peterson task. Regression analyses showed that the classical working memory measure was the most potent predictors of the Raven's score. Susceptibility to interference and intrusions errors contributed, but to a lower extent, to the Raven explained variance. These results confirm that working memory shares cognitive aspects with the fluid intelligence measure considered, whereas the role of inhibition to Raven scores is still in need of better evidence.